BOARDMAN, Ohio - Area brides may never see the moments from their special day after federal agents seized a computer with their video clips in Boardman. 

Jeremy Merkel, who goes by his middle name Jeremy Scott when creating content for couples, once lived in a home on Green Glen Drive in Boardman, the same home that was raided by the FBI in February.

Court Documents from early August when Merkel filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy lists at least 52 people that paid thousands of dollars but did not get content because “work could not be completed due to seizure of Debtor equipment”.

Merkel's computer was listed as the item seized and the filing states his “business [was] halted by Federal investigation.”

”I don't have a lot of videos from my wedding day and you only get that day once in your life,” Katie Dencher, a 2024 Bride from Ohio who hired Merkel said. 

Dencher got her full video but not the raw footage she said she was promised after Merkel claimed the footage was corrupt and lost but was actually on the computer seized.

“I put my faith in this videographer saying he would capture my wedding and I would have all these amazing clips that I would be able to look back on, have beautiful memories on and instead right now I am currently begging my friends and family if they somehow snuck a video of my first dance or my father daughter dance,” Dencher said. 

People who didn’t get their content aren’t just from Ohio and Pennsylvania. The bankruptcy filing also lists clients from West Virginia, Illinois and New York.

Multiple agents from the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations were seen removing items from the Green Glen home on February 19 including what appeared to be a Mac computer. An FBI spokesperson told 21 News at the time the raid was in connection to a search warrant. Nearly seven months later no charges have been filed against Merkel and the FBI is still investigating.

It's unclear if all the brides will ever get their videos but a recent filing states that Merkel would like to finalize his job "once he has possession of his hard drives again." 

Merkel appears to still be taking future clients and delivering content. Since filing for bankruptcy, a Vimeo page linked to Merkel's website has posted three videos from weddings in western Pennsylvania, the most recent uploaded just eight days ago.

Dencher is now warning other brides to not use his service. 

“There’s children at the wedding, there’s elderly at the wedding. Who knows what they raided the house for and I would sit there and want to protect my family,” she said. 

TheKnot.com awarded the business “Best of Weddings” in 2021 and 2022 which is an “annual award that recognizes the top wedding vendors across the country. This prestigious honor represents the highest rated vendors on The Knot who are trusted, dependable, and deliver quality service” according to the site. The page has since been flooded with negative reviews from brides that say they didn't get their videos and warn others to beware of booking with the business. 

Merkel is one of two people named in a Mahoning County Small Claims lawsuit from a bride who says she never got what was promised. The next court date for the claim in Mahoning County is October 6.

Merkel did not respond to our request for comment. His attorney in the bankruptcy case said they can't comment on matters pending in court but those involved can come to the next scheduled hearing in South Carolina court to address Merkel.