A bride-to-be from Garden City is pleading for the person who allegedly stole her bridesmaids dresses less than a week before her wedding to return them.

Mary Melendez says she was picking up three of her custom-made bridesmaid dresses that were tailored at Esteem Dry Cleaners on Stewart Avenue around 5 p.m. Friday.

She says she realized moments after pulling out of the parking lot that she failed to hit the button inside her car that closes the trunk. She noticed the open trunk and quickly pulled over to find the dresses gone.
“I just thought I was going to have a heart attack. I just couldn't believe that I left the trunk open," says Melendez. 

Melendez went back to the parking lot, where a witness told her a man in a white van picked up the dresses and put them in his van. 

"Could you please give my dresses back? I won't do anything against you. I just would like them back," she says. 

The dresses are described as Azazie Melody Tahiti-colored and are sizes 0, 1 and 2.

Melendez says the total cost of all three is about $1,000 and that the dressmaker told her they can't be replaced in time for her big day.

She is asking anyone with information about the dresses to call police.