The passengers deplaned with visible relief, grateful to have landed safely before the weather closed the airport entirely. In the empty cabin, 4 flight attendants gathered their belongings from the overhead compartments, their cheerful professionalism giving way to exhaustion. Jennifer Parcel, 32, the senior attendant, checked her watch and sighed. Her 2 young children would already be asleep at her mother’s house. She had promised to be home by 10:00. Diane Rothman, 28, gathered scattered magazines from the seat pockets, her engagement ring catching the cabin lights. Her fiancé was waiting at her apartment with Chinese takeout and a Christmas movie. Kelly Ashford, 26, the youngest of the crew, hummed along to the terminal music piping through the aircraft speakers. This was her first Christmas working for the airline, and she had plans to meet friends at a bar in Capitol Hill. Stacy Morrison, 31, silent and methodical, checked the lavatories 1 final time. She lived alone and had no particular plans for the evening, which suited her fine. She preferred solitude. They descended the jet bridge together, laughing about a difficult passenger who had complained about everything from the temperature to the ice cubes. The terminal was quieter than usual. Most flights had already departed or been canceled. Their footsteps echoed through the nearly empty concourse as they made their way toward the crew room to change out of their uniforms. Security footage would later show them entering the crew facilities at 10:04 p.m. They emerged 23 minutes later in civilian clothes, carrying their overnight bags, still talking and laughing. The camera tracked them through the terminal past shuttered shops and dark gates until they exited through the employee entrance at 10:31 p.m. That was the last confirmed sighting of Jennifer Parcel, Diane Rothman, Kelly Ashford, and Stacy Morrison. At 11:47 p.m., an airport maintenance worker discovered Jennifer’s white Honda Accord idling in the employee parking lot, the driver’s door hanging open, the engine running, and the headlights cutting through the falling snow. The other 3 doors were also open. 4 purses sat on the seats. 4 pairs of shoes were scattered on the pavement beside the vehicle, as if the women had stepped out of them and simply walked away into the storm. The Denver Police Department launched an immediate investigation. Search dogs tracked scent to the edge of the parking lot, then lost it. Helicopters equipped with thermal imaging scoured the surrounding areas once the storm passed. Divers searched nearby retention ponds.
They Never Left the Airport”
