Illinois Woman Reunited With Lost Wedding Dress After April Tornado
(CBS) -- Kelly Newman says April 9 is a day she'll never forget.
"Our home was the only one completely lost," she said. "It was gone. Everyone was gone. There was nothing. There was no furniture, no clothing, no silverware. Nothing. It was so scary. It happened all so fast. We are lucky we all made it out alive."
An EF 4 tornado ripped through Rochelle and destroyed her home. All of her possessions were gone, including her wedding dress.
"When it was finally over, everything was gone," she said. "I looked up, and instead of our roof, there was just sky."
A few days later, a farmer in Belvidere, 30 miles away, posted a picture of a dress he found in his field.
"He said he found it in his field and he had truckloads of debris and just saw it laying in the dirt and he picked it up and he said this has got to belong to somebody."
Roger Miller put the picture on Facebook.
"My son saw it on the tornado Facebook page and said, 'I think someone found your wedding dress mom.' Sure enough, I saw and it was mine," Newman said.
Miller not only found the dress but helped restore, repair and clean it.
"I was overwhelmed," she said. "I couldn't believe it. I thought sure it would be shredded but he said he found it still on the hanger which broke in half and it looked like it had been buried in the dirt forever."
Newman met with Miller on Tuesday and, eight months later the dress was returned.
"It was in a box and it looked brand new."
Newman says she's forever grateful of the farmer's generosity and compassion.
"He went above and beyond, it was very touching to me. There are very loving, caring, compassionate people out there. He didn't have to have it cleaned. He even sent it to New York to have it restored and sealed. I was speechless. It was very touching."
Newman says she got calls from people as far as Wisconsin who found photos that belonged to her but most of her home and possessions have never been found.
"We lost a safe that had all our important documents in it and that's never been found."
The wedding dress was returned just in time for her five-year anniversary which is January 1.