A Southwest Airlines flight attendant was found dead near a dumpster after falling from the 24th floor of a Hawaiian hotel while on a layover, and her family is questioning the circumstances.
Jenny Lupton, 50, a mom from Moore, Oklahoma, had worked for Southwest Airlines for 23 years when her body was discovered early Thursday morning at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort in Waikiki, according to reports. Medical examiners indicated she fell from her balcony on the 24th floor. Her family was not contacted until roughly 24 hours after her body was found.
Lupton’s sister, Tresa Lupton, told KFOR that the family does not believe she died by suicide.
“We strongly believe that she didn’t do this intentionally, and so that leads us to think it was either some kind of freak accident or someone harmed her,” Tresa Lupton said.
“We just want to know what happened. It doesn’t feel real,” she added.
In the hours before her death, Lupton appeared to be enjoying her time in Hawaii. She had spent the evening with a fellow flight attendant and had recently gotten new ink.
“She just went out with one of her flight attendant friends, and they danced and had a good time,” Tresa Lupton told KFOR.
“She had just gotten a tattoo hours before this happened, and she messaged me. She said that when she gets back, she’s going to have it colored in because it was just the outline,” she continued.
The tattoo was meant to honor Lupton’s late father — a hibiscus design for the avid gardener. Tresa Lupton revealed the sisters had been making plans to live and travel together.
“We were the closest of sisters, and we were the same, but we were opposites, like yin and yang and, you know, black and white, peanut butter and jelly, two peas in a pod,” Tresa Lupton said.
Lupton’s niece, Hannah Lupton, who followed her aunt into the flight attendant profession, said the two had traveled together extensively.
“We got to travel together to San Diego, Colorado, several times,” Hannah Lupton said.
“She was very well versed in Hawaii; she loved Hawaii and had gone multiple times.”
Hannah Lupton paid tribute to her aunt in an online post, writing:
“She was truly the best aunt anyone could have asked for.”
“She was the light of every party, the person who could make a room brighter simply by being in it.”
“She had a personality that was impossible to forget, and if you knew her, you probably have a funny story about her.”
“She was unforgettable. She was loved. She was the life of the party, the storyteller, the aunt everyone wishes they had. She will always be a part of me.”
Lupton leaves behind a 15-year-old son, Kaleb. Her friend Mel Haggard, who described her as a “goddess of the sky,” has since flown out to Hawaii.
The investigation into Lupton’s death remains ongoing.