Originally Posted by
newyorkgeorge
The consulate may well be able to get a temporary passport for her. Some years back I left my passport at the taxi counter at GIG in Brazil. I didn't realize it until I got to the hotel. I made it to the consulate downtown and was processed within a few (very nerve racking) hours. I end up getting my passport back upon my return from GIG, which had my Brazilian Visa in it.
The temporary emergency US passports are but standard US passport blanks with a US visa-like sticker affixed for the biodata page. I have seen them take as little under an hour from my travel party members' arrival at US embassies/consulates, but I've also seen them more frequently take hours, days or even a bit longer than a week in some situations.
For the OP's situation, but depending on time of day/date, I'd consider showing up at the airport and try to see what happens at check-in attempt and go from there. The airlines are likely to want to refuse transport to the US (due in substantial part to the USG's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative), but nothing ventured nothing gained --especially if no-showing at the airport is going to cause problems with the ticketed booking being changed.