Tisdale’s Mother Says Teenager Was Afraid Of Heights
BOSTON — The grieving mother of a North Carolina teen who police believe may have stowed away on a Boston-bound plane and then fallen to his death is speaking out about that theory in a case that has raised serious concerns over airport security.
The body of Delvonte Tisdale, 16, was found mangled in a Milton yard last month, and police investigators believe the teen sneaked away from his father’s North Carolina home Nov. 15 and climbed into the wheel well of a US Airways jet bound for Boston, falling to his death when the plane approached Logan International Airport.
There is no record of Tisdale sneaking onto the tarmac at the Charlotte-Douglas airport. None of the videos from airport security cameras show the teen, and his mother, who lives in Baltimore, has had a hard time believing her son would do such a thing.
Jonette Washington, 35, told the Boston Globe that her son, a quiet, stable Air Force ROTC student, had never been in trouble before, had never been on an airplane before, and was afraid of heights.
“He wouldn’t do anything like that. He has no reason to do anything like that. All he had to do was pick up the phone and say, ‘Mommy, I’m ready to come home,’ and I’d go get him,’’ Washington told the Globe.
She said she will hold a quiet memorial service with family for her son in Baltimore, where he will be buried. Last weekend, his father held a memorial service for him at a Charlotte church. The family is still awaiting autopsy results to learn exactly how Tisdale died……. continued
