Found Safe IL - Elizabeth Lee, 44, O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, 5 Aug 2019

[LotsaLatte]

Elizabeth Lee is from Hockinson, Washington and was last seen at O'Hare International Airport trying to catch a flight to Portland, Oregon.
5' 2"
44 years old

Washington woman missing from O’Hare

Columbian.com

I hope I posted this correctly I did a search and didn't find a thread. Hockinson, WA is an area in Clark County, WA and Portland International Airport is the closest airport just for reference.

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Other sources, same info:

Vancouver woman missing at Chicago O’Hare Airport
MISSING: Elizabeth Lee, 44, Last Seen At O'Hare Airport

I wonder what happened to her? Was she caught on security cameras at the airport? Where was she last seen? Did she have a phone? Where is her luggage? How did she get to O'Hare? Who reported her missing?

 

[LotsaLatte]

Not much information at all I hope she is found safe.

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing: Columbian.com

 

[JerseyGirl]

Lee is 5-foot-2 and 150 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes.

Vancouver woman goes missing from O’Hare International Airport

 

[GraceG]

It was reported that she lives in Hockinson Washington. That's just Northeast of Portland International Airport - about 10 or 12 miles. I'm assuming she was reported missing when she didn't arrive back home but there's not much info. The area around O'Hare is industrial to the West and a large visitor/conference center to the east. My chiropractor is in that area so I've driven through there many times. It's a very safe area with police presence as they help direct traffic and pedestrians in some of the more crowded areas to cross the main street. There's also a large number of hotels. I wonder if she missed her flight and just chose to go get some sleep and didn't notify anyone? I hope that's all it is.

 

[Lilibet]

Beth’s FB.

Beth Lee

 

[LotsaLatte]

I'm wondering if she was supposed to fly alone or if she had family/friend(s) with her.

 

[Otterly]

I'm wondering if she was supposed to fly alone or if she had family/friend(s) with her.

I'm also wondering (beyond all of the points everyone has already brought up) if she had a ticket. None of the articles mentioned that she was scheduled to fly, just that she was last seen "at the airport".

 

[Otterly]

Lee is 5-foot-2 and 150 pounds. She has blond hair and blue eyes.

Vancouver woman goes missing from O’Hare International Airport

I just read this article and it mentions her luggage was found in Portland, so this seems to imply she was scheduled on a flight, had a ticket, and checked her bags in prior to disappearing.
Interestingly the last section of the article says this:
"A police spokeswoman said Lee’s luggage showed up in Portland and that police are investigating whether Lee boarded a different flight, according to The Columbian. Police don’t suspect foul play but declined to say why, the newspaper reported."

What seems odd to me about that theory is that wouldn't the police know by now if she got on the wrong flight? No flight lasts two days, and you'd think any sane person would contact the airline as soon as they landed in the wrong city.

 

[justchrissy47]

What seems odd to me about that theory is that wouldn't the police know by now if she got on the wrong flight? No flight lasts two days, and you'd think any sane person would contact the airline as soon as they landed in the wrong city.

Maybe they need to check Portland Maine? I remember a couple of tourists went to Sydney in Nova Scotia when they had meant to go to Sydney Australia so it can happen. They must have camera footage from the airport

 

[Jethro4WS]

Maybe they need to check Portland Maine? I remember a couple of tourists went to Sydney in Nova Scotia when they had meant to go to Sydney Australia so it can happen. They must have camera footage from the airport

They absolutely have footage. They should know without a doubt whether she went through TSA security. If she went through security they will know which way she went and any gate she went to.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I just read this article and it mentions her luggage was found in Portland, so this seems to imply she was scheduled on a flight, had a ticket, and checked her bags in prior to disappearing.
Interestingly the last section of the article says this:
"A police spokeswoman said Lee’s luggage showed up in Portland and that police are investigating whether Lee boarded a different flight, according to The Columbian. Police don’t suspect foul play but declined to say why, the newspaper reported."

What seems odd to me about that theory is that wouldn't the police know by now if she got on the wrong flight? No flight lasts two days, and you'd think any sane person would contact the airline as soon as they landed in the wrong city.

There was a big security breakdown if she did not board the flight that her luggage went on. Anytime luggage shows but the person whose luggage it is does not board the plane the flight will be delayed while that luggage is removed from the flight. This would also be the case if she gave up her seat if the flight was overbooked unless the airline made the arrangement to send it ahead.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I just read this article and it mentions her luggage was found in Portland, so this seems to imply she was scheduled on a flight, had a ticket, and checked her bags in prior to disappearing.
Interestingly the last section of the article says this:
"A police spokeswoman said Lee’s luggage showed up in Portland and that police are investigating whether Lee boarded a different flight, according to The Columbian. Police don’t suspect foul play but declined to say why, the newspaper reported."

What seems odd to me about that theory is that wouldn't the police know by now if she got on the wrong flight? No flight lasts two days, and you'd think any sane person would contact the airline as soon as they landed in the wrong city.

The other thing I didn't mention in the previous post is that if she did board the wrong flight the headcount on that flight would be wrong and it would be a breakdown in security for that airline because they should identify who was on that flight that shouldn't be.

 

[SuperTmo]

There was a big security breakdown if she did not board the flight that her luggage went on. Anytime luggage shows but the person whose luggage it is does not board the plane the flight will be delayed while that luggage is removed from the flight. This would also be the case if she gave up her seat if the flight was overbooked unless the airline made the arrangement to send it ahead.

Yes, I agree. There is always a concern when luggage is checked and the person doesn’t board!

This lady is from my county. I live in Vancouver, WA and we kept our horse in Hockinson. It’s a super fast drive from there to PDX.

I wonder if someone was supposed to pick her up and she never arrived, or if the airport got concerned about her luggage not getting picked up.

 

[SuperTmo]

The other thing I didn't mention in the previous post is that if she did board the wrong flight the headcount on that flight would be wrong and it would be a breakdown in security for that airline because they should identify who was on that flight that shouldn't be.

What are the odds that she happened to get on a flight and picked a seat that wasn’t already assigned to someone? I suppose it could be open seating.

I know from experience that when you give the boarding agent your ticket right before going down the tunnel to the plane, the scanner thing makes a weird noise when it isn’t for that flight. I gave my boarding pass for my second flight by mistake and it was obvious when it didn’t have the right info. So I’m not entirely sure how she could have got on the wrong plane.

I know that airport is huge.... but, they should be able to track every step she takes in the airport, know exactly what she did, and know where she went. If she had a second ticket for elsewhere, shouldn’t that be easy to determine? Unless she had a fake name and license, I suppose. Either way they should be able to physically track her to a specific flight and narrow it down from there. The same goes for if she left the airport.

Is it possible she could be lost IN the airport? I remember the story a few years ago of the woman missing from a hospital, only to be found dead in a stairwell. Could Elizabeth found someplace to get stuck?

 

[SuperTmo]

I don’t see anything about her missing on her FB page or her family’s pages. I hope she is ok and is just taking a break.

 

[GraceG]

What are the odds that she happened to get on a flight and picked a seat that wasn’t already assigned to someone? I suppose it could be open seating.

I know from experience that when you give the boarding agent your ticket right before going down the tunnel to the plane, the scanner thing makes a weird noise when it isn’t for that flight. I gave my boarding pass for my second flight by mistake and it was obvious when it didn’t have the right info. So I’m not entirely sure how she could have got on the wrong plane.

I know that airport is huge.... but, they should be able to track every step she takes in the airport, know exactly what she did, and know where she went. If she had a second ticket for elsewhere, shouldn’t that be easy to determine? Unless she had a fake name and license, I suppose. Either way they should be able to physically track her to a specific flight and narrow it down from there. The same goes for if she left the airport.

Is it possible she could be lost IN the airport? I remember the story a few years ago of the woman missing from a hospital, only to be found dead in a stairwell. Could Elizabeth found someplace to get stuck?

The only airline that operates open seating is Southwest and they have ZERO flights out of O'Hare. I also find it odd that the luggage arrived and she did not. As someone else said here, TSA rules require that luggage be removed if their owner doesn't board the flight (to prevent terrorists from sending bombs onto planes unescorted). Security Footage is going to be key here but I doubt Chicago airport police will release that info to the community.

 

[Lilibet]

Rsbm

Is it possible she could be lost IN the airport? I remember the story a few years ago of the woman missing from a hospital, only to be found dead in a stairwell. Could Elizabeth found someplace to get stuck?

Wasn’t that hospital case awful?!! I always think of that possibility now. What if she collapsed in a restroom stall in such a way that she wasn’t discovered? I would think by now she would have been found, but human error being what it is....

 

[GraceG]

Wasn’t that hospital case awful?!! I always think of that possibility now. What if she collapsed in a restroom stall in such a way that she wasn’t discovered? I would think by now she would have been found, but human error being what it is....

At O'Hare, possibly, it's huge and there are stalls in some of the ladies rooms where the doors go down to the floor so you can't peek and see feet to see if someone is actually in there. If she got to Portland with her luggage, much less likely. I fly into PDX a lot to visit my Dad. When you get off the plane it's a straight shot into the ticket counter area where you take either an escalator or an elevator down to baggage claim which is right below the ticketing area. There's really no place to wander off.