Dad 'blows up home during daughter’s wedding'

A Pennsylvania father blew up his home on his daughter's wedding day, taking his own life on Saturday.

John Evans, 59, was at his home in Edgewood when daughter Lauren Evans and her fiance were being married in the afternoon in Pittsburgh.

He was a no-show at the ceremony, and Lauren's uncle walked her down the aisle.

As the ceremony was underway, the dad blew up the family home just one mile away.

Police Chief Robert Payne told KDKA: "This gentleman apparently had some personal issues and we've had information from neighbours that would indicate that there's a great potential here that he would have blown the house up.

"It looks like he may have been able to disconnect the gas line itself in the basement of the house and of course it wouldn't take much but a spark to explode the house after that."

He revealed his officers had been called to the home before and were aware of the man's mental health problems.

Neighbour Donna Antolovich told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "We came outside to see what was going on, and the house was in flames - still standing - but in flames.

"Three to five minutes before the house blew up, the owner was standing in front of it. After that, nobody could find him."

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