Chicago Woman Searches Anxiously for Purple Dress Sold at a Garage Sale Years Ago -- for a Special Reason

Photo: A woman is looking for the darker dress seen on the left in this photo, worn by her sister and later sold at a garage sale.

A Chicago woman desperately wants to track down a dress sold at a garage sale about three years ago because it was worn by her late sister.

Terry Almanza is hoping to buy back the dress in time to wear to her niece—her late sister‘s daughter—upcoming wedding this summer.

To find the plum-colored dress worn by sister Alicia Almanza at her wedding in 2008, Terry Almanza turned to social media to share a photo and her story. The dress changed hands in a garage sale at their mother’s Mokena home a few years before Alicia died at 41 after a 22-year battle with a rare cancer.

“She looked absolutely stunning in it,” Almanza said. ”I could have another dress made, but I want her dress.”

Almanza and Alicia were best friends, Almanza said. Since her death in 2013, Almanza thinks of her often.

“I feel her presence with me all the time,” she said. ”Even though she’s gone, she’s still everywhere.”

Their Story

At 18, Alicia was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma after a dentist spotted a small tumor in the roof of her mouth. Alicia learned the mass was cancer and had it surgically removed. At the time, her daughter Courtney was just 10 weeks old. Courtney’s father died in a car accident when she was 10 months old.

Sharp pains in her left cheek struck six years later, leading to a diagnosis of cancer in her sinus cavity. Alicia underwent surgery to remove part of her jaw and cheekbone.

This time, the mass was labeled as adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). The slow-growing, rare cancer mainly strikes the head and neck areas, occurs mostly in women, is usually diagnosed when people are in their 40s to 60s and has no known treatment.

The cancer crawled into her lungs, brain, and spine, rendering her paralyzed before her death on Christmas Day 2013, two years premature of her daughter’s wedding.

“She made sure she was there to see Courtney graduate, and when Courtney met her fiancé, I think she felt Courtney was going to be OK,” Almanza said.

“She was my best friend. She was amazing.”

‘Everyone Knew Her’

Alicia’s cancer was so rare, she started a foundation for those who shared her diagnosis. Attack ACC raises funding towards research of the cancer, increasing awareness and lastly to network those diagnosed with ACC, their loved ones and the families who have lost a loved one. To date, the foundation has accrued over $255,000 towards research.

In her outreach, Alicia appeared on multiple news stations and talk shows, including Windy City Live and ABC7 News. She created an annual 5K walk/run for survivors and their family. She was well-known throughout her hometown of Mokena and the surrounding suburbs.

Almanza is hoping the good Alicia did for others will circle back to her family—in the form of a plum-colored dress.

“I really do think it is going to come back to me,” Almanza said. ”That’s my wish. That’s my hope.”

As she contemplated sharing her plight on social media, a music box with sentimental value began to chime though she had not wound it.

“I know this dress is going to come back to me,” she said. ”I know it is.”

Anyone with information on the dress should contact Almanza via email at attackacc@yahoo.com, or by phone at 708-214-3370.