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Woman Says Man In OIA Ceiling Watched Her In Bathroom

Posted: 4:08 pm EDT April 15, 2008Updated: 7:19 pm EDT April 15, 2008

A tourist passing through Orlando International Airport told Eyewitness News a peeping Tom hid in the airport's ceiling and watched her while she was in the bathroom. She was so upset with the way police handle the case, she called Channel 9 and now the airport is making changes.


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An airport manager told Eyewitness News they're meeting with security staff to come up with ways to respond to similar cases faster.

The woman was shocked and afraid and still feels violated. She said she never thought such a thing would happen at Orlando International Airport, of all places, where security is so tight.

"Horrific, it was a horrific experience," Sally Zepp told Eyewitness News.

Zepp was using the bathroom outside the security gate before boarding her plane at Orlando International Airport two weeks ago when, she said, she heard a man's voice coming from the ceiling.

"I yelled, 'If there is another woman in this bathroom, please call police, go get security. There is a man in the grate of the ceiling,'" she said.

Zepp said the man told her he was watching her through the speaker and started making sexual comments. When she ran out to report the crime, she said the TSA didn't know what to do and it took Orlando police an hour to show up.

"I had just been assaulted in the ladies bathroom and no one seemed to care," she said.

Zepp told Eyewitness News police refused to shut the bathroom down.

"This man is looking at women, making sexual and lewd comments to them," she said.

An airport spokesperson wouldn't go on camera with Eyewitness News, because the case is still under investigation, but said they found an opening in the speaker and sealed it shut. They also secured a crawl space in the ceiling where the man may have gained access.

When Zepp flew back into town Tuesday for business, a security manager met her at the gate and apologized for what happened.

"That's not good enough for me. I am very upset," she said Tuesday. "How they handled the whole ordeal is outrageous, outrageous."

An airport spokesperson said maintenance workers found an opening in the speaker and sealed off an open crawlspace above the bathroom.

There was no word on whether it was an airport employee or a passenger who made the comments. Police are still investigating.

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