Bride and groom forced to leave wedding after their house was blown up by guest mid-ceremony
Married life got off to quite the start for this newlywed couple, as they were forced to leave their nuptials early after their house was blown up mid-ceremony.
Eleni Vrettos has told how she sprinted to her property in Cicero, Chicago, 'in her wedding dress' alongside her husband Tom Davis after they heard about the blast.
Chillingly, police have now revealed that a guest who the pair had invited to their wedding is the person responsible for the shocking incident.
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Vrettos tied the knot with Davis on 15 February and as they said their 'I do's', their two-storey home in the suburbs went up in smoke.
The ferocious flames which consumed the pad also caused a neighbouring building to catch fire, while another sustained some damage, according to officials.
"We weren’t sure if it was us, obviously, either way we were devastated to know it was near us," the bride previously told WGNTV. "My niece left the church, she confirmed that, yes, it was our house.
"I ran here in my wedding dress, like down the alley, and was watching from a neighbour’s yard. Everything was just smoke at that point."
Davis also added to ABC 7 Chicago: "Once we realised that there was nothing we could do, we returned to the reception where we could at least be around people that loved and cared about us."
Initial reports suggested that no one was inside the building at the time of the blast, however, police later announced that a man's body had been found among the debris.
The deceased was then identified by authorities as Anthony Avila-Puebla, 31, on Saturday (1 March).
Investigators said that it had emerged that Avila-Puebla had a relationship with one of the people who lived in the property, who was at Vrettos' and Davis' wedding at the time of the blast.
Police said that video footage had captured the late 31-year-old parking his car a short distance away from the house, before carrying multiple containers filled with a flammable liquid into the building.
Avila-Puebla made at least three of these trips, according to CBS News.
Police said he set fire to the home and never came back out, however, his motives currently remain unclear.
The bride had believed that her home - which has been in the family for almost 40 years - was empty at the time of the explosion, suggesting that she thought Avila-Puebla was still at her wedding.
It is believed that he snuck off during the ceremony to carry out the explosion.
"It's difficult," she said two days after the incident. "He had medication that he needed in the home too, so that's hard."
Tragically, Vrettos six cats - Bambi, Tucker, Reya, Graham, Old Boy, and Grey - were killed in the blast, while she also revealed that her home was not insured.
Speaking of her pets, the newlywed said: "They were the perfect little bunch, like they all got along. I thought I would have them for years, they were all much younger, and they were my home I would say.
"So now I don’t have a home and on top of it, I don’t have them as my home. That’s the most devastating, because they’re the ones that give me the comfort through that darkness.
"My dad passed away a few years ago so we don’t have the home as a remembrance of him, too. It’s a lot to grieve."
A GoFundMe set up for her and Davis has raised more than $57,000 for the pair in just a matter of weeks.
It explains that the newlyweds were 'in the process of remodelling' and were 'transferring home insurance', 'meaning they have no coverage to help them recover from this devastating loss'.
Police are continuing to investigate Avila-Puebla's motives for the blast.
Olivia Burke