Parents Leave 3-yr-old behind at Airport
Posted on August 4th, 2008 – 2:42 PMBy May Chen
From the AP today (!!):
JERUSALEM - An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said Monday….
Click here for the story.
Yes, she’s safely reunited with her parents. And yes, they had other children with them - four, in fact. So far, the worst damage done seems to be the notoriety/mortification of having this story make its way around the world.
8 Responses to "Parents Leave 3-yr-old behind at Airport"
I was actually appalled when I read this story this am…I mean, I only have 2 kids so doing a head count is probably a bit easier…but seriously? LEAVING BEHIND A THREE YEAR OLD? AND NOT NOTICING until you were told IN FLIGHT? I would think that there would be some sort of head count system or buddy system in families that are larger than 4…maybe that’s just me. I’m glad that they are all reunited - though I can’t help but wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Poor little three year old child! Breaks my heart. Just like the leaving your child in a hot car all day controversy - all day long, every day - my mind drifts to one or both of my children and various times regarding various things…I can’t imagine “forgetting about them” long enough for something like this/that to ever happen!
I imagine it was a simple case of the mom thinking the dad had her and the dad thinking mom had her. What a nightmare!
I’m trying hard not to judge but this is really ridiculous. And the parents didn’t even notice while they were in-flight! The flight attendant had to tell them 40 minutes into it! I can imagine the little girl getting lost in the confusion and the bustle of the day. But once on board the plane (or while boarding), you would think that both parents would’ve taken a look around to ensure that all of their children were on board before taking off. Or that the kids would’ve wondered where their sibling is. How strange.
They sound like they must be very disorganized people. I’m glad that the police are going to interview them to see if they sound neglectful. Unfortunately I do think they deserve the embarrassment that the worldwide coverage on this is giving them. They are lucky that this is the worse to come from the situation and that their child is okay. But then again, I think I’m going to be the slightly overprotective type, so maybe I’m just different.
Well, at least they didn’t leave her at home to fight off two would be robbers and celebrate Christmas by herself. 
I can’t imagine how those parents feel. I lost the 4 year old when he hopped the baby gate and snuck into the basement and nearly had a heart attack before I found him happily playing with his cars.
Terrible. And terribly embarrassing. I guess I can understand this better than leaving a kid in the car, though. 5 kids, 18 suitcases? That’s a lot to lug around. Still, you’d think that the parents would be sure to be at the front and back of the boarding line to make sure everyone was accounted for.
KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a recurring nightmare that I leave one of my kids somewhere and don’t discover it until hours later! The most recent version of this nightmare was set in Beijing, at the Olympics, when I left my daughter on the people mover.
This is such a bizarre story — I can see losing someone at the zoo, or whatever, but in an AIRPORT, where there are multiple checkpoints and ticket- and seat- counting opportunities? Wake up, people!
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