Tweet
Posted with permission from my coworker who was the one who handled it. This was long before I started working here. My coworker was just starting his shift. As he was signing onto the computer he looked up and noticed that there were two kids by themselves in the lobby. He didn't think too much of it at first, they were old enough that they could handle being left alone for short periods (8-10 age range) and figured that whoever they were with had run to the restroom while they waited in the lobby or maybe dropped them off to come inside where it is warm while they parked the car, or something similar.
Well, half an hour later after dealing with several guests he realizes that the children are still there and he has seen no one interacting with them as if they were a responsible party, no parents, no older siblings, nothing. Well, this would be a really long bathroom visit at this point, so obviously something is up. He paged security (always have a witness, just in case) and met the security guard in the lobby to talk with the children. They asked the children if they knew where their parents were. The children responded we don't know, we were driving, we must have fallen asleep, we remember waking up in the car because it was so cold and our parents weren't there, so we came in here where it is warmer. They did know their parent's names and phone numbers even. Security did a page over the casino overhead to have them come to the hotel lobby. No one responded for a good 15 minutes.
They couldn't believe that someone would check in and forget their kids, but just in case, they looked to see if they were guests in house... no, no rooms under the parents' names. So as a last resort they called the parents' cell phones. They were able to get through, and they found out the parents were... oh, do sit down for this one, already in the outer suburbs of Sacramento.
I will repeat that, because it bears repeating, the parents were almost to Sacramento.
They admitted to stopping at the casino to gamble for a while while their children slept in the back of the car (in the winter, yeah, brilliant), went out to their car, saw the blankets on the back seat and assumed their kids were still sound asleep and drove off. I don't know all the details after that, but the short version is that by the time the parents (and I do use that term loosely by now) got back to the resort the children were already in state custody (presumably with the intention of transferring them over to California as soon as possible) and they were greeted by some of Washoe County's finest, with some lovely new fashion accessories.
Well, half an hour later after dealing with several guests he realizes that the children are still there and he has seen no one interacting with them as if they were a responsible party, no parents, no older siblings, nothing. Well, this would be a really long bathroom visit at this point, so obviously something is up. He paged security (always have a witness, just in case) and met the security guard in the lobby to talk with the children. They asked the children if they knew where their parents were. The children responded we don't know, we were driving, we must have fallen asleep, we remember waking up in the car because it was so cold and our parents weren't there, so we came in here where it is warmer. They did know their parent's names and phone numbers even. Security did a page over the casino overhead to have them come to the hotel lobby. No one responded for a good 15 minutes.
They couldn't believe that someone would check in and forget their kids, but just in case, they looked to see if they were guests in house... no, no rooms under the parents' names. So as a last resort they called the parents' cell phones. They were able to get through, and they found out the parents were... oh, do sit down for this one, already in the outer suburbs of Sacramento.
I will repeat that, because it bears repeating, the parents were almost to Sacramento.
They admitted to stopping at the casino to gamble for a while while their children slept in the back of the car (in the winter, yeah, brilliant), went out to their car, saw the blankets on the back seat and assumed their kids were still sound asleep and drove off. I don't know all the details after that, but the short version is that by the time the parents (and I do use that term loosely by now) got back to the resort the children were already in state custody (presumably with the intention of transferring them over to California as soon as possible) and they were greeted by some of Washoe County's finest, with some lovely new fashion accessories.
...soooo, two hours' drive or more away.
Comment