Wis. woman finds stolen dress, solves burglaries

[October 18, 2010]  CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin police say a 25-year-old woman's search for her stolen wedding dress helped solve several other burglaries as well.

After a storage unit owner called Alena Gadke of Chippewa Falls on Oct. 8 to tell her of some break-ins, Gadke went there and noticed her wedding dress was gone.

Police assured her they would find the thieves, but Gadke was impatient. That night she went to Craigslist and found her dress.

She says she traded 40 texts and voice messages with the seller, who kept changing the time and location to meet.

Gadke alerted police, and the next day she met the seller in a Chippewa Falls parking lot, where police arrested the 16-year-old girl. That led police to a 17-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man, who confessed to multiple thefts.

[Associated Press]

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