'I need help': Hero flight attendant rescues teen from human trafficking by leaving a note on bathroom mirror 

  • Shelia Fedrick, 49, said she rescued a victim of human trafficking on a flight
  • The flight attendant saw the disheveled teen sitting next to a well-dressed man
  • Fredrick left a note in the bathroom for the girl who responded saying she needed help
  • Police were waiting at the terminal to arrest the man when the plane landed

By Karen Ruiz For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:58 EST, 5 February 2017 | Updated: 17:03 EST, 5 February 2017

A flight attendant rescued a girl from human trafficking after she spotted the disheveled teen sitting on a plane.

Shelia Fedrick, 49, was working on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco when she noticed a teen believed to be 14 or 15 years old sitting in the window seat next to a well-dressed older man, NBC reported. 

Fedrick, who works for Alaska Airlines, said the victim had greasy blond hair and looked like she 'had been through pure hell.' It was the contrast between the two that raised a red flag. 

Shelia Fedrick, 49, was working on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco when she noticed the teen in the window seat 

When Shelia would speak to the two passengers the girl would not look or talk and only the man would respond, she said. The perpetrator would allegedly become defensive when the stewardess tried to make conversation. 

The Alabama woman eventually relayed a message to the girl to go to the bathroom where she had left her a note on the mirror.

'She wrote on the note she needed help,' Fedrick said. 

Shelia immediately told the pilot about the situation, who contacted the police. 

Officers were waiting for the man at the terminal when the plane landed and arrested him. 

'I've been a flight attendant for ten years and it's like I am going all the way back to when I was in training and I was like I could have seen these young girls and young boys and didn't even know,' she told WTSP. 

Shelia, said she would speak to the two passengers, but the girl would not look or talk and only the man would respond. She eventually told the girl to go to the bathroom where she left a note 

Flight attendants are now including tips on how to spot human trafficking as part of their training. Former airline stewardess and founder of Airline Ambassadors, Nancy Rivard is hoping to incorporate Shelia's instincts into the jobs of staff. 

A group of about 100 flight attendants flew to Houston to learn how to spot the signs of human-trafficking situations. 

The seminar trained them to look for signs that Shelia found, such as disheveled passengers, people who insist on speaking for the victim, or if they appear to be drugged. 

Fedrick told WTSP she has kept in contact with the woman she rescued over the past few years, who is now attending college, she said.

A group of about 100 flight attendants flew to Houston as part of the Airline Ambassadors organization to learn how to spot the signs of human-trafficking situations

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