When 11-year-old Asher lost his stuffed dog Athena on a Delta flight into MSP Airport, employees of the Metropolitan Airports Commission tracked it down — and made sure the reunion was one to remember.
Asher and his family flew into MSP on June 15, but Athena didn’t make it off the plane with them. The family’s TikTok plea to help find her reached 800,000 people, including Airport Police Officer Luis Oliveira and MAC Facilities Manager Rick Valentino.
The two independently tracked Athena down through security camera footage and Delta’s baggage service office, crossing paths mid-search.
The family returned to the airport on June 18 for Asher and Athena’s surprise reunion, where the Airport Police Department arranged a K-9 of their own to help with the heartwarming handoff.
“It was not your typical police case,” Luis said, “but it was good detective work.”
The story also caught the attention of the Star Tribune and NBC News, which produced this story.