Flying can be a tumultuous experience. There are hundreds of scenarios that can involve long layovers, unexpected detours, or anxiety-inducing boarding processes. Air travel is overwhelmingly safe but there are risks, including of being the victim of a crime. While pre-screening and additional security give frequent flyers an overall feeling of safety, any number of encounters can put flyers on edge or even put their safety at risk. One woman says she experienced the latter firsthand at a Frontier Airlines gate.
Social media creator Peyton Williams (@peyton_m_williams) recently posted a TikTok describing a genuinely frightening encounter in the Denver International Airport. She says that three strangers approached her outside an empty gate in an attempt to intimidate her. They asked personal questions, tried to block her from getting away, and when she did begin to flee, one of the group grabbed Williams by the arm. Williams quickly reported the situation to Frontier, which called an air marshal and appropriate personnel. Nevertheless, the experience left her unnerved and disoriented. Her story resonated with people online. As of this writing, her video about the experience, which happened two years ago, has garnered over 1.2 million views.
In comments, hundreds of other women shared similar experiences, adding that traveling as a woman can be dangerous.
Williams says she arrived at the airport for a red-eye flight from Denver to Tampa, which she was taking alone. There were few flights taking off at that hour and her terminal was largely empty except for a few people.
Unbeknownst to Williams, her gate had changed, so she ended up sitting in a remote area with almost no one around.
While seated near the empty gate, a man approached her. Within 30 seconds of him coming near her, he lit a cigar. This unnerved Williams, but she remained where she was.
Then the man started asking her questions, specifically where she was going and where she lived. Williams refused to share her travel plans with him, instead giving him vague half answers in an attempt to end the conversation.
Then another man walked up and sat right next to them. Williams thought this was unusual, as the gate was largely empty and there were multiple other seats the person could have chosen. Then he too started talking to her.
“The guy… goes, ‘my friend was asking you where you’re traveling to,’” Williams recalls.
She was already on edge when a third person, a woman, arrived and sat behind her, leaving her surrounded.
Williams says that all three began pressuring her to reveal her destination or further discuss her travel plans. By then she was on full alert. Williams hastily started packing up her things.
Due to the gate change and the late hour, Williams was effectively alone with the three strangers in a remote area of the airport.
As she gathered her things, the group continued pestering her.
“They’re like, ‘why are you so nervous? Where are you going? What are you doing?’ Answer a question,’ the guy next to me [said], ‘aren’t you going to answer my friend? It’s not nice to not answer him.’ I’m freaked out at this point. I’m like, something nefarious has happened,” Williams describes.
She took her AirPods out and punched “911” into the keypad on her phone. Then she texted her family to let them know something was wrong at the airport and tried to call her husband. Her call went to voicemail, so she left him a message alerting him of her location and that she was in danger
Williams was aware that the three could hear her leaving the message, but she didn’t care. She wanted them to know that someone else knew where she was and what was happening.
Then she finally started to walk away. That’s when the woman who was behind her tensely grabbed her arm and told her she needed her to come to the bathroom with her.
Williams refused, but the woman kept insisting that she help her in the bathroom. Williams told her that she couldn’t help. The three continued asking her why she wouldn’t talk to them and accused her of being rude.
Williams managed to wrench her arm out of the woman’s grasp and sprint away in search of a Frontier or airport employee. When she found someone from Frontier, she reported the situation to them.
The Frontier representative called an air marshal, who said that she was likely targeted by the group. Then they looked at the security cameras with airport staff. That’s when she learned that the three had been following her since she entered the airport.
Williams still has no idea how they were able to follow her or why she was chosen. She wonders whether they had fake tickets or somehow knew who she was.
The experience has led her to set a new rule for herself: no traveling alone at night. Now she’s warning others to take extra precautions.
“Be aware of your surroundings!” she writes in an on-screen caption on the video.
To this day, Williams doesn’t know what really happened. Some commenters said that her tale sounds like a supernatural encounter.
“The second you said he lit a cigar for some reason I thought this was turning into a ghost story,” one wrote.
Many people agreed that Denver’s airport is scary. One commented, “You had me at Denver International Airport.”
“Girl as a flight attendant this is terrifying,” said another.
It’s not clear if the three were just strange and rude or if they had criminal intent—and if so, what that intent was, whether to rob, assault, or even kidnap her. Thefts and assaults are far more common at airports than kidnappings, and none of these crimes are common in airports.
It’s at least possible that the strangers were trying to find out where Williams was going in order to follow her there.
No matter what their intent, the situation was scary, even for those watching the TikTok.
“This is terrifying. I’m proud of you for how you handled this; as a people pleaser I’m not sure how I would have handled this myself and this is a great reminder that we don’t owe anyone anything and to always look out for ourselves,” one commenter said. “So glad you are safe!”
We’ve reached out to Williams via TikTok direct message and Frontier via press email for more information. We’ll let you know if they respond.
@peyton_m_williams If you’re traveling alone be safe!! Always be aware of your surroundings and be alert!! #DIA #denverinternationalairport #humantrafficking #travel ♬ original sound – Peyton Williams | St Pete
I am not denying the occurrence, but find it odd that the three “tracked her from when she entered the airport”, did they have tickets of some sort an decided to hone in on her versus someone else? plus, how does one light up a cigar these days in a public place, let alone get a lighter through security. Odd story.