A pilot came to the rescue of an American Girl doll accidentally left behind at a Tokyo airport by a 9-year-old Texas girl.
Rudy and Celeste Dominguez discovered after returning to the United States from their trip to Bali, Indonesia, that their daughter, Valentina, was missing her doll, Beatrice. The doll was last seen on a plane in Tokyo, where the family had a stopover on their flight.
“We checked our bags to see if maybe she was in there but we all remembered seeing her on the plane so once we did the search, didn’t find her, we called the airline and then we sent an email to the airline looking for her,” Rudy Dominguez said. Valentina said Beatrice is her favourite toy.
“She brings me happiness and she’s my best friend,” she said. The parents posted about the lost doll on Facebook, and the post came to the attention of James Danen, an American Airlines pilot based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Danen reached out to Turkish Airlines’ lost-and-found at Haneda Airport in Tokyo and was able to locate Beatrice. He personally escorted the doll across the globe, snapping photos for Valentina at various airports along the way.
Danen delivered the doll in person. “I felt over the moon,” Valentina said. “I knew Beatrice was gonna be mad at me but I was happy that I could see her again.”
Danen said he was happy to make the reunion possible.
