It appeared from the article that the granddaughter was making an immediate connection at LAX for Australia. I wonder why her bag was not through-checked to her final destination by the AC YEG check in agent. Was she travelling on two separate tickets, onward booking to Australia was on a waitlist or was she travelling on some kind of space available airline employee pass that it could not be through checked?

Why would the granddaughter be looking for her bag in LAX if it had been through-checked to Australia?