The suspect, Anthony Avila-Puebla, was killed in the explosion
What was supposed to be the most joyful day of their lives turned into a nightmare when a guest at their wedding allegedly left the celebration and destroyed their home in a shocking explosion.
Tom Davis and Eleni Vrettos were celebrating their wedding the day after Valentine’s Day when tragedy struck, and their Cicero, Chicago home was suddenly engulfed in flames.
The house, located on the 2200 block of Central Avenue, exploded during the wedding. Authorities say the person suspected of causing the blast, who had been attending the ceremony, was later found dead among the debris.
The damage caused from the blast ABC7Chicago
The explosion was so powerful that it not only demolished the couple’s home but also forced 11 nearby families from their residences when surrounding properties caught fire from the blast.
Speaking with WGNTV after the harrowing event, the bride shared: "I ran here in my wedding dress, like down the alley, and was watching from a neighbor's yard."
Eleni Vrettos said she was in 'shock' ABC 7 Chicago
"Everything was just smoke at that point," she recalled, explaining that news of the explosion reached her only moments after saying her vows.
"I was still in my wedding dress, heels, no jacket, just standing and, yeah, just in shock," Vrettos continued.
Adding to the heartbreak, her husband had no choice but to wear his wedding shoes for days afterward, as they were all he had left after the fire destroyed their belongings.
"Our first concern, of course, was our cats," he explained. "And once we realized 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."
Authorities later recovered a body from the wreckage, identifying it as 31-year-old Anthony Avila-Puebla.
Investigators believe Avila-Puebla left the wedding briefly and returned to the house, where he allegedly set the fatal blaze.
Anthony Avila-Puebla's body was found in the blast Cicero Police Department/ABC 7 Chicago
According to police reports shared by the NY Post, the man had a relationship with someone living in the house, though officials did not specify who.
Security camera footage reportedly shows Avila-Puebla parking his vehicle about half a block from the home during the wedding festivities, carrying jugs of what police describe as ‘some sort of flammable liquid’ into the house.
Authorities suspect that he poured the liquid around the property and set it on fire. They believe he never made it back out alive.
While friends and well-wishers have raised more than $63,000 through GoFundMe to support the newlyweds, the bride says she is still heartbroken over the loss of her childhood home.
"The building belonged to my family for almost 40 years. Yeah, I grew up here, so I live, lived here, and I work in the community. And I mean, Cicero is all I really know," she said, reflecting on what the home meant to her.
