She realized something was off when he sat near her children... then he was forcibly removed from the flight

A mother-of-two says she realized something was wrong when a strange man sat near her children on a flight out of Washington DC as they were trying to head home to Georgia.

Lauren Benton told USA Today that she, her husband Nathan, and their two children - ages six and nine - were flying home out of Dulles International Airport on August 2 when a man who was near them at the TSA checkpoint started following them to their gate.

The unidentified man even followed Benton and her daughter into the women's restroom, she claimed. 

'My heart sunk down into my stomach,' Benton recounted. 'With our children, we were trying to create the perception that they were safe at all times.'

He then continued to stalk the family when they got on their Delta flight during early boarding and sat down in their row - before he was forcibly removed.

An unidentified man was forcibly removed from a Delta Airlines flight out of Dulles International Airport on August 2

Benton said that at first, she and her husband were trying to remain calm to not upset their children.

But when the man boarded the flight and sat near them, she knew she needed to do something - as her children were becoming more and more anxious.

She then called over a flight attendant and discretely informed them of the situation, and the man was escorted off the flight, USA Today reports.

An ensuing investigation found that the man did not have a boarding pass for the flight to Georgia - but did have a boarding pass and valid identification for another flight that day.

The plane then had to be evacuated and a security sweep was conducted, which Benton said took an hour and a half to two hours to complete.

Lauren Benton says the man stalked her family from the TSA checkpoint to their gate 

The TSA later told Benton it was investigating the incident, but told USA Today in a statement that it found there were no security lapses at the checkpoint because the man had a valid boarding pass and ID.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority - which operates Dulles International Airport - also confirmed the man was escorted off the plane, but said no charges were filed and he ultimately continued on to his final destination.

Authorities also noted that the man appeared to have mental health issues. 

Delta Airlines, meanwhile, said it was investigating how the man was able to board the plane without a valid boarding pass.

'Delta has processes in place for gate agents and flight crews to very that individuals on board aircraft prior to departure are customers that are booked on that particular flight,' a  spokesperson said.

'Delta is reviewing the matter in question internally and has been in touch with airport authorities in conjunction with this review.'

Airport officials confirmed the man was escorted off the flight, but said no charges were filed

But Benton said she doesn't understand how such a security lapse could happen.

'Individuals that belong on the plane should only have been allowed on the plane,' she lamented. 'I would like to know how this occurred.

'We live in a post-9/11 era, and people think something like this is not possible, and it's completely possible.'

She went on to say she sympathizes with the man's mental health issues 'but I will not allow mental health to be used as an excuse for the [compromising] of my family's safety.'

Benton also said she now hopes stakeholders will worker to make sure nothing like this happens again.

In the meantime, though, she said she and her family will develop their own safety plan.

'Just don't be complacent,' Benton is now warning other passengers.

'Be prepared to speak out.'