Wedding dress returned 32 years after dry cleaner mix-up

Ame Bartlebaugh holds a 1980 photo of her mother in her wedding dress in Willowick, Ohio.
Ame Bartlebaugh holds a 1980 photo of her mother in her wedding dress in Willowick, Ohio.

WILLOWICK, Ohio — An Ohio woman had given up hope of seeing her wedding dress again after a dry cleaner mix-up three decades ago until her daughter's friend saw photos of the dress on Facebook.

Michelle Havrilla was nearly speechless after getting the dress back last week for the first time since her 1985 wedding.

It turns out her dress was put in the wrong box by a now-defunct dry cleaner in Willowick and stored in the attic of another family.

Ame Bartlebaugh found the dress Feb. 4 when she went looking for her mother's wedding dress.

She posted about the mix-up on Facebook, and Havrilla was reunited with the dress within a day.

Bartlebaugh now hopes social media will help her find her mom's dress before her own wedding next year.

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