INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. -- It's the story of a jilted bride that just won't go away and neither will the store's owners who owe thousands of dollars to that bride's family.
"I did everything that everybody told me to do -- the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General's Office, I went to small claims court," said Joanne Mills, mother of bride Joy Widener.
Yet, Mills is still getting the runaround and now she's being taken to court by the people who owe her money.
"I think it's really unfair. They are just criminals walking the streets," she said.
It all started last summer. Mills bought her daughter a wedding gown from La Bella Sposa in south Charlotte.
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She took it back to the store to have it preserved, but that was the last time she saw it. Soon after that, the store closed its doors, leaving dozens of brides without a dress.
Mills believes her daughter's gown was sold to another bride.
"That's when it was all on the news that they had locked their doors," she said.
Mills took the owners, Brian and Shannon Starcher, to small claims court and won. They're supposed to pay her more than $4,200.
However, they've filed for bankruptcy and now they're taking Mills to court in August. Their attorney, Richard Mitchell, says hopefully they'll get a discharge, meaning they won’t have to pay Mills one penny.
"I think some day, even if it's 50 years from now, if they have any money they should pay that judgement," said Mills.
In order to get back the thousands of dollars she's already paid, Mills would have to pay another $2,000 to $3,000 if she hires an attorney to represent her.
"I'm just going to be sinking more money into lawyer fees," she said.
With or without an attorney, Mills says she will be there for the August 13 pre-trial conference.
Whether it will make a difference remains to be seen. A bankruptcy attorney we talked with says the Starchers are protected by bankruptcy laws.
Unfortunately for Mills, she'd likely be one of the last people to ever be repaid, if she's repaid.
The Starchers owe more than $1.5 million.
"They just file bankruptcy and that makes them free of all their wrongdoings and the law needs to be changed. That's ridiculous," said Mills.
