Airport guard praised for honesty
Published:Thursday | December 15, 2022 | 12:28 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
To access this article in full please login or register today
On a return flight to Jamaica on Sunday, Cadena Coote, 32, purchased a duffle bag which came in a pouch at the Miami International Airport to replace one of her bags which had torn. She packed her belongings in the new bag and then put her purse...
On a return flight to Jamaica on Sunday, Cadena Coote, 32, purchased a duffle bag which came in a pouch at the Miami International Airport to replace one of her bags which had torn.
She packed her belongings in the new bag and then put her purse and some other items in the pouch.
Coote recounted that the flight was fully booked and there was limited cabin space, so passengers were being asked to check their carry-on bags.
As she waited in line to board the aircraft, Coote rested her belongings on a wheelchair.
The minute the flight took off, she realised that she did not have the pouch in her possession.
She cried frantically and reached out to a flight attendant who took her contact details and promised to make checks in lost and found when she returned to Miami.
Unknown to her, the pouch which she said was the size of a lunch kit was checked on the flight.
Her purse had approximately US$500, Jamaican currency, local and international bank cards, her driver’s licence, voter ID and health cards for herself and her children.
She was hopeful that it would be found in Miami and so she did not reach out to the financial institutions to block the cards but kept a close watch online to see if they were being used.
Coote filed a complaint online with Miami International Airport on Monday morning and around midday she received an unexpected call from Travis Smith, a Guardsman aviation security attached to the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston.
The 29-year-old, who has been working at NMIA for over eight years, said while doing a walk-around, he observed a bag handler, whose primary role is to take bags from the carousel, removing a purse from under a counter.
“I signalled to him and asked what it was. I took it from him because normally when you find stuff like that, it is supposed to be submitted to the duty office for a log to be made. I told my colleagues that I found a purse but I would not go through it yet because passengers from a flight were in the customs hall,” Smith told The Gleaner.
When the customs hall was cleared, he searched through the purse and successfully reached Coote via the contact number that was written on her COVID-19 vaccination card.
“When I told her that I found her purse with a sum of money and other valuables, she burst out in joy. She was really delighted to know that somebody found it,” he said.
The pouch was handed over on Monday evening and Coote has since reached out to Guardsman to commend Smith for his honesty.
“Every day you hear about murders across Jamaica and I think his action has restored my faith in humanity. Just the thought of having to replace all my cards and IDs was frustrating, so I’m glad he found it and was honest because usually in these cases, people would just take the money and discard the remaining contents,” Coote told The Gleaner.
Smith said he was grateful that Coote chose to express her gratitude with a gift.
“She surprised me with a Gucci cologne that she bought for her dad while in the US. I don’t know if it was a birthday gift but she told me that I was deserving of it and she also gave me local money. It’s just a part of my function and anybody would want their valuables to be returned,” he remarked.