Surveillance video shows brazen theft of newlyweds' car in front of Milwaukee hotel

The newlyweds' car packed with wedding gifts stolen the day after their nuptials in Milwaukee remained missing on Tuesday but surveillance video shows the brazen daylight robbery at the entrance of their hotel.

Bill and Cheryl Pulec got married on New Year's Eve at Lakefront Brewery in front of 140 friends and family members to help them celebrate the happy occasion.

They spent their wedding night at Brewhouse Inn & Suites, 1215 N. 10th St., and were packing up their car in front of the hotel Monday morning when someone stole their vehicle loaded with all their wedding gifts.

So the Pulecs — she's a Milwaukee native, he's from Green Bay — who planned to return to their Chicago home on New Year's Day, were forced to stay another night in Milwaukee. Since their only car was stolen, they were getting a ride back to their home by Bill Pulec's parents.

Milwaukee police told them surveillance video shows a car driving up to the hotel and a man jumping out, who then hopped into the Pulecs' car about 30 seconds after Cheryl loaded a bag into the vehicle.

"At first we thought it was a mixup and someone grabbed the wrong car. But when we realized it was stolen, there were a lot of tears," said Bill Pulec.

Bill Pulec is a software consultant and Cheryl is a high school history teacher in suburban Chicago. They met about five years ago at a friend's birthday party.

Monday morning they asked the Brewhouse Inn valet to bring their car to the front entrance. Since the couple only has one key fob for their 2014 gray Volkswagen Jetta with Illinois license plates, they exchanged it between each other as they carried their gifts and luggage to the car.

Around 10:30 a.m. Bill Pulec was carrying some of their possessions to the car when he saw it wasn't at the hotel entrance. He figured one of the valets had moved the Jetta.

"I asked the valet where they moved the car and they were really confused. I said, 'My car was just here a minute ago.' They started frantically looking around for the tags," Bill Pulec said in a phone interview.

Once they realized it was stolen, the Pulecs filed a report with Milwaukee police. The last luggage Bill Pulec was taking to the car contained his tuxedo and his bride's wedding dress.

Inside their stolen car were their clothes, Cheryl's purse containing her identification, credit cards and phone, a necklace and bracelet Bill had purchased as a wedding present for Cheryl, and their presents, which included roughly 50 envelopes of cash and checks.

Bill Pulec said on Tuesday that the couple do not want a GoFundMe page set up for them, despite offers by Good Samaritans to do so. The Pulecs had told their wedding guests to donate to their favorite charity, Evidence in Action, in lieu of gifts. Anyone willing to give them gifts to replace the ones stolen are being asked to donate instead to Evidence in Action.

Because Cheryl Pulec is a high school teacher, they plan to wait until the summer break to go on a honeymoon in Thailand.