Woman Who Found Wedding Dress in a Ditch Can't Locate Owner—And the Internet Thinks It Belongs to a Runaway Bride

Wedding dresses are extremely valuable—both economically and sentimentally—pieces of clothing. That’s why when one woman discovered a bridal gown lying on the side of the highway, she went to great lengths to track down the rightful owner. According to the local news station in Des Moines, Iowa, CBS-affiliated KCCI, the woman, Denise Gannon, was driving with her husband on the highway, just north of Rippey, Iowa, in June 2024 when she noticed something in a ditch on the side of the road. “All this fluff was just fluffing around in the wind,” Gannon recalled.

The mystery item piqued her curiosity, so she pulled over to get a better look and discovered an Alfred Angelo wedding dress in size 18W stashed in a ditch next to a Bliss Bridal dress bag. “It is a very pretty dress,” Gannon said. The woman decided to retrieve the gown and hang it on a clothesline at home for safe keeping until she finds the owner. 

In an attempt to track down the bride, Gannon used her Facebook account to get the word out—but to no avail. “I really thought that if I put it on Facebook, somebody would notice it and want it—but nothing,” she said. While monitoring her social media post, Gannon also contacted Bliss Bridal, the name of the store whose label was on the shopping bag located beside the dress. “They don’t sell that brand, so they don’t think they sold [it],” Gannon revealed. “They didn’t sell the dress.”

While waiting for the owner to get in touch with her, Gannon has been theorizing about the cause of the missing wedding dress. “I just don’t know if somebody was hauling or moving, and it blew out of their vehicle,” she offered as a possibility. Others, however, believe the bride must have abandoned the frock after changing her mind about the wedding. Gannon refutes that idea, though. “I think the dress has already been worn, so I don’t think she changed her mind,” Gannon explained. 

Another potential hypothesis? Some say a tornado that struck Greenfield, Iowa, on May 21, 2024, could have been responsible. Again, Gannon rejects the notion. “It had not been there,” she said. “I do not believe it has anything to do with Greenfield.” Plus, the tornado happened two months ago, so the connection is unlikely.

Although Gannon hasn’t found the owner yet, she hasn’t given up hope. Since she was once a bride 45 years ago, she empathizes with the woman tying the knot and has a feeling she wants to be reunited with her dress. “Hopefully, somebody will just find it and say, ‘Hey, that’s my dress,’” Gannon said. According to the outlet, the woman is going to continue her search for the next few weeks. If her hunt is still unsuccessful, she plans on donating the garment.