Homeowner in Indianapolis House Explosion Speaks Out
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Moncy Shirley says she feels lucky to be alive, and says she doesn't know what led to the house explosion that killed two and destroyed several homes. Video by fox47news.com
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The owner of the home that blew up in Indianapolis is now speaking out -- she says she's stunned by what happened, and feels luck to be alive.
"She was screaming, 'I'm glad you're alive! I'm glad you're alive. It was an explosion in the neighborhood and we were looking for your body'."
A neighbor's phone call: that's how Moncy Shirley learned her neighbors feared she might be dead after an explosion destroyed her house and the one next door, killing neighbors Dion and Jennifer Longworth.
"These people lost their life. I lost my house. Everybody lost their house. It's devastating and people keep asking me questions and questions like I know something. I don't know nothing. I just left my house like we always do," says Shirley.
Shirley says she and her boyfriend left Friday night for a weekend at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg.
Shirley's 12-year-old daughter was staying with friends and they boarded their cat, a move some have wondered about.
"We always put him in a place for him to stay cause he gets very nervous. It just feels horrible like when everybody's pointing on you like we did something wrong."
Shirley's ex-husband told eyewitness news the couple's daughter sent him texts recently saying the furnance in the house wasn't working, so they stayed in a hotel.
Shirley says she got estimates from repair companies, but her boyfriend changed the thermostat two weeks ago.
Investigators believe natural gas is somehow involved. Shirley says she never smelled any, but her daughter thought she did recently.
"She said 'mommy, it smells like gas in here like in the laundry room.' She said 'every time I come home from school and we open the garage doors, I smell gas in there'."
With everyone asking how, why, Shirley has the same questions.
"Everybody asks me if I have enemies that somebody would want to, they thought I was inside the house and they want to kill me in there. I don't know."
One thing Shirley does know however, is that she's never going back to Richmond Hills again.
A neighborhood where she used to feel safe will never feel that way again.
Shirley says the last time she spoke with police was Tuesday. She's not happy her ex-husband has spoken out about the situation.
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