Family Stranded in Hartsfield-Jackson Searches for Answers in Desperate Situation

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A military family leaving Hawaii for Florida found themselves stranded in Atlanta for days without many options.

The family of eight said they have been stranded at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for nearly two days and are desperate for answers.

The Cook family originally announced they were going to drive to Florida from Atlanta, but not only was the car not at the airport, they couldn’t even rent a car to get out of town.

Eventually, they were forced to take another flight to reach their final destination. The family said they lost thousands of dollars.

“Chaotic is probably the best word I can use to describe it,” Sean Cook said.

The family shipped their car from Hawaii to the continental United States a few weeks ago.

“It’s been there for three weeks,” Cook said.

But after their first stop in California, the family received discouraging news: Their car was nowhere near Atlanta. A website tracking the car’s shipment said it was still stuck in the port of San Diego.

The alternative option the Cook family had planned to use was to book an SUV and truck to drive from Atlanta to Florida to accommodate their large family and all their luggage, but in Atlanta they received similar news to what they had received upon arrival in California, no transportation was available for them to drive.

“When we arrived, they told us they didn’t have any cars available,” Cook said.

The family still had to get to Florida and had no choice but to fly.

“So we technically left Hawaii on July 3 and it’s now July 5,” Cook said.

Even when they land in their new hometown, they will still be without transportation.

“We still don’t know when the car will be here and I’ll still have to come back to Atlanta at some point when it gets here,” Cook said.

The car is expected to arrive in Atlanta later this month.