After a week of mystery and intrigue, the dress worn by actress Lupita Nyong’o to The Oscars has been found – in the hotel room where it was first reported stolen.

The pearl-covered gown, reported to be an eye-watering $150,000, was taken from a hotel room at the London West Hollywood on Wednesday. However, a man believed to be the thief returned it to the same place and tipped off TMZ where it could be found and, weirdly, why he had given it back.

Lupita Nyong'o
Lupita Nyong'o's Oscars dress [pictured] was returned on Friday

Having swiped the expensive Calvin Klein garment, the thief and accomplices removed two pearls from it and took them to an expert who promptly told them that they were fakes. It was then transported back to the scene of the crime in a black garbage bag and left inside the bathroom.

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During the phone call, the thief apparently explained that he was returning the dress because it was worthless, and in order to tell the world about “Hollywood’s fake bull****”. Real original there, pal.

Having learned this, TMZ then informed the investigating Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department about the location. A spokeswoman for the department said on Friday afternoon that they were “in the process of confirming” the incident.

However, another official says “we have no suspects. We’ve interviewed a handful of hotel employees, and they’ve all been cooperative. We haven’t cleared anybody, but we don’t have any suspects.”

Nyong’o wore eye-catching dress, allegedly made from 6,000 pearls, to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday night to attend this year’s Oscars. At 2014’s ceremony, she won the trophy for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years a Slave, which won a whole haul of awards that night.

She had returned to New York a few days ago, leaving the search on-going.

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