OREANDA-NEWS. Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) Terminal Operations Senior Agent and City of Miami resident Antonio de Beche was named Miami International Airport's Employee of the Month on November 1 for helping to reunite a mentally ill person with her family after she wandered to MIA from Miami Beach.

While visiting from Louisiana, the mentally ill woman disappeared from her son's Miami Beach home on September 3. The woman's family suspected one of the places their mother might try to get to was MIA and they notified the airport. De Beche received the missing person report from the family, immediately issued a Be-On-the-Look-Out (BOLO) notice to all airport staff, and gave the family his cell phone number so they could remain in contact. After being missing for 24 hours, she was located in the MIA Hotel lobby. Until the woman's family could travel from Louisiana to Miami to pick her up 18 hours later, de Beche took the woman under his wing by buying her food out of his own money, secured a hotel room for her, and maintained contact with the family. According to the family's thank you letter a few days later, "By the grace of God we were able to get in touch with Mr. de Beche who then became an angel to our family."

Members of MIA's Rewards and Recognition Committee and his co-workers surprised de Beche at his workplace on November 1 with a celebration and presented him with his Employee of the Month certificate of appreciation. Winning the September Employee of the Month award makes de Beche eligible for MIA's Employee of the Year award, which includes a vacation getaway.