Airline Employee Saves Young Girls From Alleged Sex-Trafficking Plot

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Travelers check-in at a kiosk for their flights at O'Hare International Airport on December 23, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. O'hare International Airport is one of the busiest hubs in the nation during the weeks surrounding... Joshua Lott/Getty Images

An American Airlines employee saved two young girls from getting on a plane to meet someone who authorities suspect is an online predator.

The girls, 15 and 17, hoped to travel from Sacramento to New York to go spend time with a man named "Drey" they met on Instagram, KOVR-TV reported.

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Before the girls had even attempted to go through security or board the plane, airline agent Denice Miracle immediately knew something was off judging by the way they were interacting with each other, she said.

"I think the way they kept looking back-and-forth at each other, like they weren't really sure," Miracle told KOVR. "And then they were texting someone on the phone, and that person was giving them answers."

'It just didn't feel right': Airline agent saves teens from human trafficking plot https://t.co/HPuMeBGhrF pic.twitter.com/lg08wbgB0e

— WIS News 10 (@wis10) February 17, 2018

They also didn't have identification or return flights, which alarmed Miracle. Once she denied their tickets, the girls headed to a Starbucks to make a phone call, The Sacramento Bee reported. While they were preoccupied on the phone, Miracle was busy alerting authorities about the situation.

Moments later, Todd Sanderson, sheriff's deputy at Sacramento International Airport, approached the teens.

"They had told us they were talking to somebody on Instagram who was asking them to come back and take pictures, modeling pictures and music videos," Sanderson told KTVU-TV. "That's typically the ruse that's being used to get minors and others involved [with sex trafficking]."

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The girls were hesitant to believe that was the case and insisted they wouldn't become victims. Sanderson, however, noted that they "probably wouldn't have had a choice."

Sanderson reportedly got in contact with "Drey" but shortly after, he deleted all of his social media profiles.

Thanks to Miracle, the girls were eventually reunited with their parents, who were under the impression their daughters were spending the night at a friend's house.

"I'm very, very thankful Ms. Miracle with American Airlines was able to use her intuition and concern and actually say something," Sanderson told The Sacramento Bee. "Without her, I wouldn't have been called and we wouldn't have intervened with these girls."

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