Bride Found Dead in Bathtub, Groom Missing (PHOTO)
A 26-year-old woman who had just been wed was found dead in a apartment bathtub Sunday wearing a bloodied wedding gown. The groom was nowhere to be found.
Estrella Carrera was married Friday night to a 30-year-old man from Chicago whose name has not yet been released. The wedding appeared impromptu, but Carrera later invited family members to an after party to celebrate her news.
The mother of an 8-year-old and 2-year-old, Carrera dropped her children off at her father's house before heading out to get married to her on-and-off-again boyfriend of over two years and father to her youngest son.
Her family reported that Carrera was last seen Saturday morning at 2 a.m. They became suspicious when the woman had not checked in on her two children and could not be reached.
"She didn't want to tell me she had gotten married," Sandy Lopez, Carrera's cousin, told The Boston Herald. "She didn't tell anybody."
Lopez admitted that she didn't not care agree with Carrera's decision to stay in a relationship with the 30-year-old man because the couple had had problems in the past.
"He's just a person who had problems," Lopez said adding her admiration for her cousin. "She was a beautiful mother, person, sister."
Carrera was found Sunday at approximately 3:30 p.m. in a Burbank, Illinois apartment just outside Chicago. The 26-year-old was still decked out in her wedding gown and had apparently been stabbed to death. Police suspect that a domestic dispute had broken out; her death was ruled as a homicide on the autopsy report.
"We never thought this would happen, she was a strong woman ... she loved her kids," Lopez remarked. "Reality still hasn't hit me."
Jason Tokarczyk, Carrera's next door neighbor, reported that he had never seen a man around the apartment before and believed Carrera to be a single mother.
"She was quiet as a mouse," Tokarczyk told The Herald. "I was shocked out of my mind to hear something had happened to her."