Social media post and kindness of a stranger help North Jackson teen honor mother's memory
It began as a longshot request on Facebook: 17-year-old Jaden McKay Baumgartner was looking for anyone who had a dress that matched the one her mother wore to her prom that Baumgartner could wear to her own as a tribute.
Baumgartner's mother, Amy Hambrick, went missing in 2017 when Baumgartner was 10 years old. Hambrick's remains were not found until 2022 on Youngstown's east side. Her death remains unsolved.
Photos of Hambrick circulated widely as the family searched for answers in her case over the years, but one photo in particular held a dear place in Baumgartner's heart: a photo of a young, bright-eyed Hambrick in a pink and white prom dress.
Just three days ago, Baumgartner posted that photo with a simple request:
"For my junior prom this year I wanted to find someone that has the same dress my mom had for her prom. I have no idea what year this picture is from but she would’ve been turning 37 December 24th this year. Do the math I’m not that good at it . But PLEASE if someone has this dress sitting in their closets from when they went to prom several years ago and you don’t know what to do with it I will HAPPILY buy it off of you!!!"
As of Thursday afternoon, that post had just under 900 shares and over 400 comments, nearly all from people trying to help.
But it was Dominque Fuentes who immediately recognized the dress as being identical to one she had in her closet from her own prom. And it was even the right size.
"I can't even put words to it," Fuentes said, "It's very crazy to me that I wanted to keep this dress for so long for some unknown reason."
Fuentes reached out to Baumgartner's aunt, Niki Yereb, telling her she wanted to give her the dress and even adding that over the years, her grandmother had been telling her to get rid of her old dresses, but that she just had a sense that she needed to hang on to this one because it would serve some purpose some day.
Yereb shared a video on social media of her giving the dress to Baumgartner, with a caption saying:
"The power of love, fate and this app! By the grace of God, she found the dress and it was local and her exact size! There is so much bad in the world that when good overcomes the bad it’s all the more special. You all made this happen for her and I know Amy is so thankful please share!"
Baumgartner told 21 News, "When I was little, I always remember seeing my mom in this prom dress... I always thought it was beautiful and always wanted to wear it." She added, "It brings a lot of happy memories back."
The dress was from a shop in West Virginia, and both Fuentes and Hambrick happened to wear this dress to prom the same year.
Fuentes said, "I thought it was fate she was supposed to get it [the dress] and I was supposed to give it to her."