Sheila Shell is on a mission to find her son.
Justin Shults, originally from Gatlinburg, Tenn., and his wife, Stephanie, have not been heard from since terrorist bombings rocked the Brussels airport Tuesday. Fearing the worst, Shell, of Odessa, headed for Belgium on Thursday with hopes that her son and daughter-in-law would be found safe.
"I am heartbroken about this tragedy," she told the Tampa Bay Times in a text message as she and her husband, Jon, headed to Atlanta to get expedited passports and catch a flight. "As of 7:22 a.m. our time, there is still no news."
Justin is 30, and 29-year-old Stephanie is from Lexington, Ky., according to NBC News. The couple have been living in Brussels the past two years working as accountants - Stephanie for the global food company Mars, and Justin for Clarcor, a Tennessee-based firm that makes filtration systems and packaging products.
They were at the airport with Stephanie's mother, Carolyn Moore, who had been visiting the couple in Belgium and was about to fly home to the United States when two suitcase bombs detonated Tuesday morning.
The couple had parked their car and waved goodbye to Moore, who was heading toward security when the blast happened, Moore's sister, Betty Newsom, told NBC.
"When (Moore) got up, she looked where they were standing, and they weren't there, and she couldn't find them," Shell told WTSP 10News Wednesday before leaving for Atlanta.
Moore escaped serious injury, but the blasts at the airport and another explosion about an hour later at a Brussels metro station killed 34 people and wounded 270, authorities have said. The State Department has said that at least a dozen Americans were injured but has not confirmed any Americans were killed, but added that "a number of U.S. citizens remain missing and not every U.S. government employee or family member on the ground has been accounted for," according to NBC.
The Shultses' family members have been in constant contact with State Department officials. Shell said the couple's employers are taking their pictures to area hospitals trying to track down the couple.
In her message to the Times, Shell said Stephanie's father has joined his wife in Brussels.
"Our main focus is finding them, so please keep us all in your prayers," she said.