FORT MYERS, Fla. — For years, the Wilson family has gone on Christmas vacations, "We came to Hawaii, because we love to vacation here and I was stationed here, so we know the area," Rod Wilson, telling Fox 4 that this trip was planned over a year ago.
As with any trip, the Wilson's say they prepare for weather and delays, but they never expected this, "We’ve been here with no luggage since last Wednesday," Sheri, Wilsons wife, explaining how this not only took family time away, but also a first, "Our grandkids, which one of them, this is their first Christmas, had all the Christmas presents in the bag, so we really couldn’t you know have a true Christmas, to give them their presents, that was just another thing we missed out on."
For days the Wilson's were trying to figure out where their bags were. From Florida they went to Los Angeles, they were supposed to head straight to Hawaii with her daughter, but when that didn't happen, they ended up in Denver.
Still with no bags, they got a notification from Southwest Airlines that their bags were at LAX, "Well we gotta go to LAX to get our bags, so we get to LAX, bags aren’t there," from there they finally headed to Hawaii, with no luggage.
Once in Hawaii, they had to go shopping for clothes, "Going to Target, Costco, Walmart and his bag has his antibiotics he was on, his medication and sleep apnea machine."
Thankfully through the VA, Rod was able to get the medication he needed. While the Wilsons are still waiting to hear from southwest where their bags are, they’re getting update from a complete stranger, who has been updating them, Sheri says, "It’s a customer, not a southwest employee out of the goodness of their heart."
Now, the Wilsons are hoping to make it back to Naples, by the New Year, with their luggage, "We leave tomorrow, fingers crossed, back to LAX, look for our bags and then fly back the next morning, Saturday to Ft. Myers."
