Wedding saved: TSA makes sure bride gets dress left at airport

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Wedding saved: TSA makes sure bride gets dress left at airport

A lucky bride and her brother are speaking out after quick thinking by the TSA at Newark Airport helped saved her wedding day.

NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- TSA officers at Newark Airport came to the rescue and saved the day for a wedding party in Ohio.

A roller bag containing the bride's wedding dress was left behind at the airport after the group had already taken off for Columbus for the wedding the following day.

Apparently Narolin Cepeda's family was running late on Aug. 7. After making it through security, they hustled to the gate and the mother of bride apparently forgot the dress.

"We get to Columbus, Ohio, we're like 'mom, where's your carry on? Oh man," said the bride's youngest brother Christopher Cepeda.

Christopher Cepeda went online to help his soon-to-be-married sister and looked up the TSA's Lost and Found office at Newark.

He submitted an online form and crossed his fingers it would work.

He received an automatic reply that responses can take five days.

"I was like forget it, it's not going to happen," he said. "God heard our prayers."

Loletta Nathan-Gordon, an administrative assistant for TSA, saw the email come in right away and within six minutes had good news for the family.

She called the TSA team and learned the roller bag was still there.

Nathan-Gordon said she put herself in the bride's shoes and could only imagine how stressful it would be. As soon as the bag was brought to her desk, she arranged for the bag to be sent overnight.

The dress arrived at the hotel just before 9 a.m. the next day.

"She literally saved my sister's wedding," Christopher Cepeda said. "If it wasn't for her, everything would have been a disaster."

The bride's brother said he would do anything for his sister.

"They did everything they could to bring the dress to me," bride Narolin Cepeda said. "That was my dream dress. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart."

The bride said she thanks God that she has a brother who would go above and beyond for her.

"That made me realize how much my brother does love me," Narolin Cepeda said.