Ford taurus Transmission failure

I helped my sister get a 2001 Ford Taurus from a state auction site. Unfortunately it started showing Transmission issues only a month later. Two weeks ago she noticed what I believe was the tranny slipping while at speeds of 45-50 and 65-70. It was light but she really got jossled on Turns and U turns where it seemed the transmission slipped big time, reved up and then kicked into gear. I felt this problem and was going to suggest a transmission shop after research yesterday. Today she was on the highway and the Transmission light came on and she started loosing power. she could still drive and did so into a parking lot where she discovered smoke and pouring transmission fluid. She said it felt fine shifting at the lower speeds which seems strange to me. They also were able to drive it onto the towing truck bed. Does anyone know exactly what is going on here? could this just be a broken seal or does the transmission probably need to be rebuilt? Any thoughts? -Thanks!

Front pump failure or torque converter probly I see this alot in the trans shop I work in I would go thru the whole thing if you want to keep the car the cost between the front pump and the converter is alot of the cost anyway....But I couldnt say for sure without some more specific info is the trans fluid burnt ,metal in it?

Two days before we checked the fluid and the level was good and the fluid itself looked pretty good, just a little dark, and I mean very little. And it did not smell burnt. I wouldn't know the condition after it failed though. Does this help?

She got her car back. They Replaced the torque Converter. It cost a little more than $1400. Is this a normal price for this? I really don't have any clue. Great "educated guess" by the way.

thats about right maybe a little on the high side if the converter failed they probably went through the entire unit anyway sounds right.

Thanks for all the help!