Ardohain grew up in Atwater. She met Pieper in Washington D.C. The couple fell in love back east and decided to head back to the Valley to get married. "Honestly we were just so happy to have everyone there. That was the best gift we could have asked for," said Ardohain.
After the ceremony everyone headed to the Clovis Fairfield Inn and Suites to spend the night. That's when one family member left their gifts in a locked car in the parking lot. Investigators say sometime between midnight and seven, a thief broke in and stole every one of their presents.
"We were just very disappointed," said Ardohain. She added, "I think everyone was just tired and it just happened. They are not from the area they are from Virginia and they had no idea that this type of thing is more prevalent in Fresno."
On Saturday morning a relative noticed the break-in and called police. "We were able to determine the surveillance cameras they have there did not point to the area where the vehicle was parked," said Sgt. Jim Koch.
The gifts are worth over $10,000 but the newlyweds say money can't buy one priceless present; a quilt marking their marriage and signed by everyone they love. "A lot of people wrote very nice things and that could have been something we had for the rest of our lives," said Ardohain.
Family members are now offering a reward to anyone who returns it. But the couple is using this as another reason to remind each other how truly lucky in love they are, "We both just don't really get affected by losing stuff, it's just stuff at the end of the day, we are just happy to be together," said Pieper.
Police are examining fingerprints left behind and they're reminding people not to leave anything valuable in their cars.
