NORTH JACKSON, Ohio - A North Jackson teenager fulfilled a heartfelt wish to honor her late mother's memory by attending her junior prom on Saturday wearing a dress like the one her mother once owned. The journey began with a Facebook post and culminated in the extraordinary kindness of a stranger.

Jaden McKay Baumgartner, 17, had longed to wear the exact pink and white prom dress her mother, Amy Hambrick, wore years ago. Hambrick went missing in 2017 when Baumgartner was just 10 years old. Her remains were found in Youngstown in 2022, and her death remains unsolved.

A cherished photograph of a young Hambrick in her prom dress held special significance for Baumgartner. In December, Baumgartner posted the photo on Facebook with a heartfelt plea, hoping someone might have a similar dress tucked away.

"For my junior prom this year I wanted to find someone that has the same dress my mom had for her prom," Baumgartner wrote, adding details about her mother. "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!!!"

The post garnered significant attention, with nearly 900 shares and over 400 comments as people sought to assist Baumgartner.

It was Dominque Fuentes who recognized the dress immediately. Remarkably, she had the very same dress in her closet from her own prom, and it was even the correct size.

"I can't even put words to it," Fuentes told 21 News. "It's very crazy to me that I wanted to keep this dress for so long for some unknown reason."

Fuentes contacted Baumgartner's aunt, Niki Yereb, offering to give her the dress. Fuentes shared that her grandmother had often encouraged her to get rid of her old dresses, but she had an inexplicable feeling that she needed to hold onto this one.

Yereb shared a video on social media of the moment Baumgartner received the dress, expressing gratitude for the outpouring of support.

"The power of love, fate and this app!" Yereb wrote. "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."

Baumgartner shared her emotional connection to the dress. "When I was little, I always remember seeing my mom in this prom dress," she said. "I always thought it was beautiful and always wanted to wear it. It brings a lot of happy memories back."

In a poignant twist of fate, it was discovered that both Fuentes and Hambrick had purchased the dress from the same shop in West Virginia and wore it to their proms in the same year.

"I thought it was fate she was supposed to get it [the dress] and I was supposed to give it to her," Fuentes said.

On Saturday, Yereb posted a photo on Facebook of Baumgartner, radiant in the pink and white gown, accompanied by her boyfriend, Kristopher Gay.

"Well today is the day she got to wear ‘THE DRESS!!!!’" Yereb wrote. "Thank you to everyone who made this day successful for her. We’re biased but she is simply stunning and her handsome boyfriend and family for being so good to her. Have the best time guys but be safe! Love you"

Baumgartner's dream of honoring her mother's memory in such a personal and meaningful way was realized through the compassion of a stranger and the power of social media.