PHOENIX — A Valley woman is on the hunt for a prized possession after a local dry cleaner allegedly gave away her beloved wedding gown.
Luz Gamez, who's been happily married for 13 years, took her dress to the cleaners expecting to get the garment freshened up. What she wasn't expecting was to find the shop's doors closed and signs indicating the cleaner's clothes had been relocated.
Gamez said she's not only disappointed but is now desperate to get her wedding gown back and is even offering a reward to anyone who can help find the dress.
"In our culture, in our family, it's very important that you keep your dress, you show it to your daughter, your friends, your family," Gamez explained.
She was looking to preserve her dress, the same as her mother and grandmother have done for decades. So she dropped her dress off at Uptowne Cleaners in central Phoenix years ago and later got several calls notifying Gamez the gown was ready to pick up.
She even got a couple more courtesy calls letting her know it was ready.
"I took that as a reminder call, I never knew they were going out of business," Gamez added.
Gamez said she blames herself for not picking up the dress on time.
"I was able to get ahold of a former employee and they (said) that everything got donated to White Dove, which is part of Hospice of the Valley, it's a thrift store," she said.
After sifting through three White Dove locations in the Valley, Gamez had no luck and now is looking to social media to spread the word. While she still has pictures and the train part of her dress, she's hopeful the potential buyer is willing to sell her back the dress.
"The person who has my dress, maybe they're going to do a project with the dress, maybe they just want the fabric or the top and maybe if I can buy the dress back from them, I'm willing to do that," Gamez said. "It was a very simple dress. I liked that it had a big bow on the side. It's just an old-style dress for me, but it's my dress."
If you have any information about the dress pictured you can email 12 News at Connect@12news.com
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the timeline of when Luz Gamez dropped off her dress.
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