SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A University City woman is searching desperately for what she says is worthless to a thief, but priceless to her.
Cassie Moua's wedding outfit, which her grandmother made for her over 15 years, was stolen out of the trunk of her husband's car the week after her wedding.
"It's been sitting in a closet for 15 years, waiting for the day I get married," Cassie said. "I get married and a week later, it's gone."
Cassie married David Lawrence on Feb. 29 at her father's house in Scripps Ranch. She wore a traditional Hmong wedding outfit, including a black jacket with embroidery, a black apron with embroidery, and a white skirt with a pink belt.
That dress, however, is now in the hands of a thief.
Sometime during the night of Friday, March 6, a thief got into David's car, stealing the suitcase from the trunk with the wedding outfit inside.
Cassie says there were no signs of forcible entry and she believes the thief may have used a device to spoof the remote and unlock the car. It was parked in the lot of their apartment complex, near the corner of Nobel and Cargill Avenue in North University City.
Cassie says she went to the car on Saturday morning to go grocery shopping, and saw the hood popped, trunk opened, glove compartment ajar, and items spread out all over the seats.
She says she does not care about other stolen items like a pet transporter and tire chains stolen, but is now on a mission to get the outfit back.
"Since it happened, I've been driving around the neighborhood, looking in little pockets and corners, hoping to see abandoned clothes or an abandoned suitcase," she said.
Cassie has since posted more than 20 fliers in the area around her complex.
She hopes to get the outfit back to keep as a family heirloom, and that if the thief has a change of heart - no questions asked.
San Diego Police say there is no suspect identified. They say in addition to the wedding outfit, two pairs of sunglasses were stolen. The police report says the thief accessed an unlocked vehicle.
Cassie says this is the second car break in two years her family has had to deal with living at their complex.
