Police report: Missing teen with autism claims that she went through TSA PreCheck at OIA with just airline drink coupon, no ID
ORLANDO, Fla. - FOX 35 News is investigating and learning more information about a missing 15-year-old girl with autism from Apopka that was found at the Orlando International Airport on Friday.
Police said that 15-year-old Sade Subbs was reported missing on Friday. After hours of searching, she was located at the Orlando International Airport. According to an Orlando Police Department report obtained by FOX 35 News on Monday, she was found by an airline employee wandering around Southwest Airlines Gate 128.
When asked if she needed help finding her gate, the report said that Subbs handed the airline employee a Southwest Airlines drink coupon. However, when the employee ran the coupon, she discovered that the passenger it belonged to had boarded an earlier flight.
Orlando Police were called in at that point. The responding officer noted in his report that when he saw Subbs, he immediately recognized her as the missing teenager from Apopka. When asked how she got through Transportation Security Administration security, “Subbs stated she found the drink coupon on the floor, utilizing it, as she passed through TSA PreCheck."
Two police agencies and Sade’s father said the teen got through security with nothing more than the drink coupon with another passenger’s information on it. One report also stated that Subbs was observed on camera passing through TSA PreCheck, getting screened at 1:32 p.m. on Friday.
“No boarding pass at all,” said Gerald Subbs.
His daughter told investigators that she took several buses to get to the airport from Apopka and said that she just wanted to go on an airplane.
“She said she wanted to go to Asia to see the Chinese blossoms or something,” Subbs said.
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FOX 35 News has reached out to TSA to see how the teen got through their security checkpoint without a government-issued ID and an airline drink coupon.
"The individual presented a valid and current boarding pass. Under the age of 18, passengers are not required to present an ID. She was screened and therefore presented no threat to the aviation system," the TSA responded. "This is an example of where many layers of security worked. Although she presented someone else's boarding pass, she was screened and the TSA screening procedures did assure that she posed no threat to aviation."
TSA at the Orlando International Airport (FOX 35 Orlando)
Subbs said he had a long talk with his daughter and explained that what she did was wrong. While he still has lots of questions, he is thankful that he got his daughter back safe.
"She could have gotten on an airplane. It could have been a lot worse,” Subbs said.
In October 2019, a similar incident happened at the Orlando International Airport when a woman was able to board a flight with no identification or boarding pass.