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Georgia mom: Frontier Airlines didn't know location of plane with her kids on board when it diverted

Renee Patton said she was left in the dark when her children were supposed to be headed home to Atlanta from Minneapolis, but ended up in Huntsville, Alabama instead.

ATLANTA -- It's a story that's making its rounds online: A father upset after he says Frontier Airlines mishandled his children who were flying alone.

The Florida father, Chad Gray, said his two children were on a Frontier flight from Des Moines, Iowa headed to Orlando but they ended up in Atlanta.

He spoke about the flight on NBC's "Today," saying is kids spent the night in a hotel four other "unaccompanied minors" and an airline employee. He said was never contacted about what happened.

A metro Atlanta mom said a similar situation happened to her children who were on a Frontier flight. Renee Patton said she was left in the dark when her children, Casey and Justin, were supposed to be headed home to Atlanta from Minneapolis, but ended up in Huntsville, Alabama instead.

RELATED | Father says diverted flight left his kids staying with stranger, other children at hotel

Patton said she and her husband were waiting for them and got worried when the children didn't show up. She said the employees at the ticket counter didn't know where the flight was initially.

"We asked Frontier at the ticket counter what was going on, they did not know where their flight was," she said.

Fortunately, she found out where they were after receiving a text from her daughter, saying the plane landed in a different state.

"It's scary because you're 16 and you have your little brother and you don't know what to do and you don't have your parents there," Casey said. Her brother was just 10.

A pair of Frontier Airlines jets parked at gates at Denver International Airpot on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.

"It just makes me mad because if they would've just communicated with me, It would have been fine," the mom said.

11Alive's Ashley Johnson looked into the airline's policy for unaccompanied minors. According to its website, there is a service fee of $110 each way for each child. That doesn't include the price of the ticket. Children ages 5 to 14 who travel without someone at least 15 years old are considered an unaccompanied minor. They don't accept unaccompanied minors who are younger than 5 years old.

The fee covers the supervision of a flight attendant.

The policy doesn't mention what happens if children end up in the wrong place.

The Pattons said they received vouchers from Frontier for $150, which they don't intend on using because the vouchers are only for their children; they don't plan on letting them fly by themselves again.

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