Family of Missing Americans in Brussels Says They Were Incorrectly Told Couple Was Found
Justin and Stephanie Shults were last seen at the Brussels airport.
— -- The family of a missing American couple say they were told incorrectly that the couple had been found on Wednesday.
Justin and Stephanie Shults were last seen at the Brussels airport shortly before the deadly explosions, according to the couple's family.
Justin Shults' mother, Shelia Branam Shell, told ABC News that an official from the U.S. State Department initially told the family the couple had been found at an area hospital on Wednesday.
"I received a call from the State Department today saying their names were on a list at a hospital but they could not say what hospital," Shell said Wednesday.
However, Shell then received a call from a Belgian social worker late Wednesday who said both were still missing.
She "wanted to know where I received this news, and that info was not correct, and wanted to make sure whoever has been reporting this on social media and the news, to take it down," Shell told ABC News.
Shell said she was still planning to fly to Belgium today from Atlanta to help with the couple's search. Both Stephanie and Justin Shults' employers have also been searching for the couple, Shell said.
Stephanie Shults' employer, Mars Inc., posted a message on Facebook on Wednesday asking for information about the couple.
The couple had dropped off Stephanie Shults' mother, Carolyn Moore, at the airport when the attack started.
Moore's sister, Betty Gragg-Newsome, told ABC News on Wednesday that Moore had made it through security and waved to the couple shortly before one of the bombs went off. Moore was thrown by the bomb blast, her sister told ABC News, and immediately after getting up, started to frantically look for her daughter and son-in-law.
"Until we know Stephanie and Justin are safe, you’re just kind of in a knot. You’re worrying, hoping, hoping for the best, and worrying about the worst, trying not to let your emotions get ahead of you,” Newsome told ABC affiliate WTVQ on Wednesday. “We’re saying prayers, and putting their names on as many prayer chains as we can put them on, and just trying to be strong for each other."
The State Department said today that it is aware of the claims by the family but declined to comment on this specific case, citing the privacy act, for which they do not have a waiver.
ABC News' Mollie Reigger and Justin Fishel contributed to this report.
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