by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:16 PM ET, Thu February 15, 2018
An American Airlines ticket agent is being lauded as a hero for saving the lives of two underage girls who nearly became victims of human trafficking.
The girls, age 17 and 15, showed up at Sacramento International Airport in California with first-class tickets to New York City that had been purchased by a man they met via Instagram.
The girls had no adult supervision and no identification, all of which triggered the concern of SMF ticketing agent Denice Miracle, according to a press release issued by the airline.
Miracle also noticed that the girls' tickets were either one-way or multi-stop and they had been paid for with a fraudulent credit card.
"Between the two of them, they had a bunch of small bags. It seemed to me as if they were running away from home," Miracle said in a statement. "They kept looking at each other in a way that seemed fearful and anxious. I had a gut feeling that something just wasn't right."
Miracle acted quickly and contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Airport Bureau.
Four deputies arrived on the scene and discovered the girls were invited to New York by a man they met online and knew as "Drey." He promised them $2,000 to do some modeling and perform in music videos.
Deputies said the girls were unaware they had been provided with one-way tickets. The man's profile has since disappeared from Instagram.
The girls were both reunited with their parents, who were informed that the teens nearly became victims of human trafficking. Investigators say if the two teens had gotten onto the American Airlines flight to New York, their lives may have been altered forever.
"I'm proud of Denice and how she put her training into action to save these children," SMF General Manager Aleka Turner said in a statement. "She is a testament to the critical role our frontline team members play each and every day in the operation and the lives of each person they come in contact with."
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