Cop Helps Boy Get Home After Dad Dies on Vacation

It should have been a dream father-son vacation. Instead, a 13-year-old Illinois boy was left stranded alone in California when his 37-year-old dad died unexpected Sunday, reports My News LA. Because the boy had missed his scheduled flight home amid the chaos and had no relatives in the area, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department contacted Southwest Airlines on his behalf, but the airline "was having difficulty re-scheduling the return flight," per CBS Los Angeles. Thanks to one kindhearted officer, the boy is now home with his mom.

Reserve LAPD officer Drew Terenzini gave up his own Southwest Rapid Rewards miles "to ensure the young man made it home (to) his mother that day," police say in a Facebook post. "Terenzini is a great example of what the LAPD Reserve Corps is all about." Southwest assigned a flight attendant to assist the boy during the flight, and has offered help in transporting his father's body back home. Juan Fernandez appears to have died of natural causes, say police. (Watch a cop pull a suicidal man to safety.)