Returned: Lupita Nyongo's' $150,000 Oscars dress has been returned to her West Hollywood hotel, pictured at the Academy Awards
A dress
believed to be the custom gown taken from Lupita Nyong'o's hotel room
earlier this week has been recovered, a sheriff's official said on
Friday.
Los
Angeles sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida says the dress found on
Friday
afternoon at a West Hollywood hotel 'greatly resembles' the
pearl-adorned Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa dress Nyong'o
wore to Sunday's Academy Awards.
She says detectives are attempting to verify the recovered dress is the same one Nyong'o wore.
Lupita's dress was found stashed in a
bathroom at The London hotel in West Hollywood. The thief called TMZ to
say he had returned it after claiming the pearls it was make of are fake
Police recovered the dress and are investigating the case
'We
do have possession of a dress that greatly reassembles the dress that
was stolen but I don't think at this time we can 100 percent say it's
that dress, but it greatly resembles it,' Nishida said.
One
of the actress' representatives reported the dress was stolen from
Nyong'o's room at the London Hotel in West Hollywood late Wednesday.
Authorities said it could have been taken during a broad time frame
earlier in the day.
Authorities placed its value at $150,000, although experts say it could have fetched more on the black market.
A special dress: The custom Calvin
Klein gown reportedly featured 6,000 pearls and was taken from Lupita's
room at the London Hotel sometime on Tuesday
The recovery of the dress was first reported by celebrity website TMZ, which wrote in a post that a person claiming to have taken the gown gave them information about where to find the dress.
The
dress recovered on Friday afternoon was found in an abandoned bathroom
at the London Hotel, sheriff's officials wrote in a press release.
Nyong'o
won an Oscar in 2014 for her role in Twelve Years a Slave and was a
presenter at Sunday's ceremony. Her publicists declined comment on
Friday evening.
The
31-year-old actress has become a darling of Hollywood's red carpets in
the past two years, with commenters and fans praising her fashion
choices. She accessorized the dress with Chopard diamond drop earrings
and three Chopard diamond rings.
Before
the awards ceremony, Nyong'o told The Associated Press on the red
carpet, 'I'm just wearing my diamonds and pearls. My homage to Prince,'
referring to a popular song by the musician.
'There
are a lot of collectors out there who are very private and have private
collections of stolen merchandise,' said style expert and fashion
commentator Mary Alice Stephenson. 'Some of these dresses have global
fame as big as any Van Gogh.'
Scene of the crime: TMZ reported that
the dress was likely taken from The London Hotel between 8am and 9pm
while the actress was out on Tuesday
The dress had been reported missing on Tuesday, with Lupita telling police it must have been taken from her room between 8 am and 9 pm, while she was out.
The
London also confirmed the incident, saying: 'This is a terribly
unfortunate situation, and we are working with law enforcement on their
investigation.'
On
Wednesday the actress shared a timelapse video of her pre-Oscars prep
which shows her with her style team in her hotel room getting her
glammed up before the big event.
And
the morning after the Oscars, Lupita shared a snap of her beautiful
accessories she'd worn for the night and captioned: 'That was cool!
#Oscars 2015 #DiamondsAndPearls'
Laid out on top of her frock were some stunning Chopard jewels and satin Nicholas Kirkwood heels alongside a silver box clutch.
Lupita
returned to the Oscars after winning the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress last year for her work in 12 Years A Slave.
'This
year the pressure's off,' Lupita told E! host Ryan Seacrest during the
E! red carpet show. She added: I can just dress up and enjoy the show'
The actress was recently attached to the film Queen Of Katwe based on the true story of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi.
What a collection: The morning after
the ceremony Lupita shared a snap of the beautiful accessories she'd
worn and captioned: 'That was cool! #Oscars 2015 #DiamondsAndPearls'
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