OC soon-to-be bride searches for missing family wedding dress

ANAHEIM HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- One Orange County family was heartbroken after a wedding dress that was about to be used for a third family generation went missing.

Lori Sullivan's daughter, Jaclyn, is set to married Aug. 27.

She was planning on continuing a third generation tradition, posing for pictures in her grandmother's wedding dress. It was the same dress her mother wore down the aisle more than three decades ago.

"To me, my family is so important and that dress is more than a piece of material, it was the history behind it, the love of 50 years for my grandparents and the 33 for my parents. All the love that is just within that dress. That, to me, was so important," Jaclyn said.

But when Lori opened the box wrapped in plain blue paper that has been in her closet since she picked it up from the cleaners in 1983, she found a shocking surprise. A different dress was inside.

The lace dress was in a Biljoy creations box with a shipping label to Park Avenue Bridal in Orange, which no longer exists.

Lori said she likely would have gone to one of two dry cleaners in Anaheim Hills 33 years ago. She's turned to the internet for help, hoping someone out there has her satin and lace scalloped-neck dress, and hopefully it will be found before her daughter walks down the aisle.

"That would be the best gift of all," said Lori. "Absolutely amazing. That would be like winning the lottery, a dream come true."

The mother and daughter said that at the very least, they'd want to find the rightful owner of the dress they have. You never know if there's another mother out there hoping to save her wedding dress for another generation as well.