CHARLESTON – An 89-year-old Kanawha County woman says a Greyhound bus driver left her stranded “in the middle of nowhere” in Oklahoma.
Lois Harper filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Greyhound Lines Inc. and the unknown bus driver.
According to the complaint, Harper was traveling from Charleston to Tucson, Arizona, to visit her daughter on a Greyhound bus. She left Charleston on August 31, 2023, and was scheduled to arrive in Tucson on September 2.
About 7 p.m. on September 1, 2023, the driver announced a dinner/rest break and told all passengers to exit the bus. The bus doors would be locked until 7:45 p.m.
“Client exited the bus, went into the convenience store, purchased a banana and sat down at the table inside,” the complaint states. “She recalls seeing other passengers outside waiting, but due to her age and traveling alone, she was not comfortable doing this for an extended amount of time. At approximately 7:35 p.m., she proceeded outside to find the bus pulling out of the parking lot. She tried to flag it down, but it did not stop.
“Defendants left Mrs. Harper stranded in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, in Oklahoma. Her suitcase, phone charger, all her belongings and her empty seat remaining on the bus as it continued west.”
Harper says she was forced to sleep on the concrete.
“She was exhausted, distressed and alone,” the complaint states. “A nice family drove her into the convenience store parking area and offered her a ride back to the only motel in the area approximately 2-4 miles away.”
Harper rented a room at Western Motel in Sayre, Oklahoma, for the night. The motel manager gave her a phone charger to use. She then began making phone calls to Greyhound and her daughter.
“Her daughter arranged a shuttle to transport her back to the airport in Oklahoma City that was approximately 4-5 hours away,” the complaint states. “After the long drive, Mrs. Harper paid for a plane ticket to Tucson, Arizona, and made her way through the airport to her gate.”
The complaint says Greyhound refused to return any of her luggage or personal belongings she had left on the bus.
“Lois Harper’s bus ticket has her name and seat number,” the complaint states. “The company she trusted to transport her had zero concerns about safety. A basic safety measure would include a head count, checking seat numbers and simply asking other passengers if everyone was accounted for before leaving. Then, upon arriving at the destination, a basic safety measure would include inquiries about luggage unaccounted for that remained in the cargo area.”
Harper says the defendants failed her, adding she “just wanted to see the sights” on her way to visit her daughter.
She also says included in the lost luggage was her Bible, which has “decades of personal notes, highlighted scriptures and references that cannot be replaced. These personal notes and inscriptions were priceless.”
Harper accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence. She says she has suffered extreme emotional distress, lost personal property, injuries to her person and monetary damages for the bus ticket, plane ticket, motel, shuttle service and the value of her lost luggage and personal belongings. She says she also endured pain and suffering, annoyance, aggravation and mental anguish.
She seeks compensatory damages, special damages, general damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Harper is being represented by Kevin P. Davis of Charleston and Mark Plants of South Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-702