Special Olympics athlete vanishes after another found safe

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A teenage Special Olympics athlete vanished from Los Angeles International Airport early Monday, just hours after another missing competitor turned up safe 350 miles away in Northern California.

Shion Isimel, 15, of the Ivory Coast, was last seen at 6:30 a.m. Monday at a Delta Air Lines ticket counter, airport police spokesman Rob Pedregon said. A security camera photo showed the French-speaking teen, who competed in table tennis, wearing a black shirt with the words "Special Olympics."

Earlier, an Albanian athlete who disappeared from the Special Olympics in Los Angeles turned up safe in a community on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

Andi Gusmari, 44, came to the Hayward Police Department on his own around 2 a.m. Monday and used a lobby phone to contact a dispatcher, acting Lt. Guy Jakub said.

FULL story at link.



In this Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, still image from a surveillance video provided by Los Angeles Airport Police, shows a French-speaking Special Olympics athlete who has gone missing. The 16 to 20-year-old athlete who was last seen early Monday morning at Los Angeles International Airport, LAX Terminal 5 near the Delta ticketing area, and reportedly wandered outside LAX. He is believed to have his passport and boarding pass with him. (Los Angeles Airport Police via AP)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d170834d3ed24b11a734bc3f59209e6a/missing-special-olympics-athlete-turns-350-miles-away

[villager]

1. It seems they are unable to keep track of their athletes very well...

Hope he turns up safe n' sound shortly...

[olddots]

2. All in all the Special Olympics were brilliantly run by caring people

people cryed tears of joy at the commencement yesterday .

[Sunlei]

3. Special Olympics athletes, shouldn't be left to fly alone, airports are so confusing these days.

[JI7]

5. was he alone or got away from his group ?

[SoapBox]

4. Oh my gosh...

I wonder how he got to the airport at this hour...maybe a hotel shuttle van? Walking to and from is difficult, to say the least. Or, was the team or some of them leaving and he got away from them...that is so easy to do in the chaos of an airport...this morning departure bank of flights for all carriers is a mess.

LAX is an absolute traffic nightmare. The whole area around the airport is a mess with all kinds of road projects going on...and they keep closing lanes on the upper deck loop, creating a virtual hell, in particular on the Terminal 4, 5, 6 and 7 side.

There is all kinds of work going on on Century, especially at Aviation where they are building a light rail line. The construction memo from LADWA (Los Angeles Department of World Airports) noted that 93,000 cars PER day travel through that intersection alone.

it's horrific.

[jwirr]

6. Don't know about any of you but my daughter would not be allowed to go alone to any event.

That is why it is called Special Olympics.

I hope they find this one safe also.