St. Louis, MO (KSDK) - Police charged a local travel agent for allegedly swindling a St. Louis County high school dance team.
The Lindbergh High School Flyerette Dance Team turned what could have been a heartbreaking event into a story of perseverance.
A representative of the dance team said they were preparing to travel to the National Dance Team Championship in Orlando, Florida, and had booked travel plans through Kimberly Parker of Be Our Guest Travel.
The team learned that Parker had cancelled the 46 tickets and taken the money.
Parker, 41, was arrested and charged for theft/stealing on February 3. Her bond was set at $15,000.
"She has children who go to our school district and this is someone that our coaches felt like they could trust and they could support her business and it just goes to show you that you can't always trust people," said Heidi Fields, a parent of a Flyerette.
The team was forced to book the trip last minute. Fourty Six Flyerettes took nine different flights. The team had to pull money from the Flyerette Fund set aside to use next year. They also had to pay for tickets out of pocket.
"We got down there. We are happy. Of course it is a terrible situation. We don't want her to be able to do this again to anyone else. It's bad but, you can just tell it brought our team closer together in the end," said Lizzy Houska, the Captain of the Lindbergh Flyerette Dance Team.
Despite their travel troubles, the team ended up placing in the top five at the competition.
Since the team never got their money back, they are working on getting corporate and private donations.
If you would like to donate, make checks payable to "Friends of the Flyerettes" c/o Lindbergh High School, 5000 South Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63126.
KSDK