HOUSTON – At 29 years old, Amanda Stafford is getting ready for the biggest day of her life -- the day she will finally marry her longtime fiancé Oscar Cina.
Unlike many young couples, Stafford and Cina are paying for their wedding out of their pockets. They are also right in the middle of raising four young children, so money is tight.
“We both work, we both go to school, we have four kids and we are right in the middle of a major remodel of the house," Stafford said. "We can’t afford to throw money away -- especially now."
After planning every last detail of her wedding day, Stafford has just found out that her wedding cake maker, Adam Longoria of Edible Designs Cakery And Desserts, is nowhere to be found.
The worst part is that Stafford and her fiancé have already paid Longoria $633.50.
“I mean, who carries around just $600 to just throw around, down the drain? I don’t," Stafford said.
For the busy, hardworking mom, that $600 might as well be $6,000, and she can’t afford to lose it.
“I mean, where is this guy?" she said. "Why is he not returning emails, phone calls? Where is he?” Stafford said.
Since KPRC's first story on Adam Longoria aired more than a week ago, Channel 2 Investigates has identified 24 couples who have all paid the cake maker between several hundred and several thousand dollars.
And the Houston Chapter of the Better Business Bureau has compiled a list of 14 different couples who have filed official complaints against the business.
Greg and Kelly Dykes of Katy paid Longoria $525 as a down payment on a wedding cake for their soon-to-be-married daughter, Bethany.
But they can’t reach him by phone or email, and they've gone by his shop only to find it closed.
“We just feel so ripped off,” Greg Dykes said.,
So far, Longoria has refused to do any kind of on-camera interview with Channel 2 Investigates to explain what is going on.
Ernesto Maldonado, the CEO of Mundo Latino TV, said he is not surprised Longoria is not talking.
Maldonado used to own a cake shop called Supreme Cakes that employed Longoria. Maldonado fired him in 2015 because of work issues, he said.
“He would sell a cake for $2,000, take a deposit of $1,000, change the order around so it would look like he sold it for $1,000 and then pocket $1,000.
That’s what he did,” Maldonado said.
Stafford doesn’t have $600 to $700 to buy another wedding cake from another cake maker, and she said she knows exactly what she wants for Adam Longoria.
“I want him to never be able to take advantage of people like this again," she said.
Click here or on the link below to view a copy of all 14 official complaints that people have filed against Edible Designs Cakery and Desserts.