Hopeless Romantic Learns Setting Her Husband's House On Fire Isn't The Best Way To Rekindle Their Marriage

Some decisions in life, we learn after the fact, were obviously never going to work out. They may look great on paper and even sound good in our heads, but when it comes to implementing them, they crash and burn.

That appears to be the case here for an estranged couple who tried over several weeks at the end of March to give themselves another shot at love. Looking back now, there were signs it wasn’t going to happen.

That's easy to say as someone who wasn’t in the middle of it. I don’t know the feelings these two had when they locked eyes with one another. I wasn’t there to feel the emotions as they came back to the surface.

There's a reason they've been apart, but they put those aside and held out hope that they were going to be able to put their family back together. Did they know in their gut it wasn’t going to work? Maybe, but you have to try.

Melissa Dunham, 40, of Orlando, Florida had made the trip to Homosassa to celebrate the 18th birthday of her son, who lives there with her estranged husband.

It was during this visit that sparks evidently flew between Dunham and her husband, and they decided to "attempt rekindling their marriage," reports WFLA.

Their son told a deputy with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office that his parents hadn't lived together in a long time. He added that they started arguing often shortly after his mother moved in.

This Relationship Ends In Flames, Literally

The affidavit states that these fights would turn physical and that Dunham would throw things and verbally abuse her husband and son. The CCSO had been called to the house due to one of these arguments.

Things were so bad that their son told deputies that he was planning to leave the home and his parents' "toxic relationship" behind. He had packed his bags, plugged his phone in to charge and gone to sleep.

He woke up the next day and realized that the power had been shut off and assumed that it had occurred because of lack of payment. His dad was sitting in his parked car charging his phone when he went outside and sat on the porch. His mom was still inside.

She had decided that the attempt to rekindle the marriage was over. According to her husband and son, Dunham walked out of the house with her stuff, including two small dogs.

The hopeless romantic then walked towards her husband's car and yelled, "Now we both don't have shit." That's when the father and son realized the house was on fire.

Police, according to WFLA, found Dunham on a nearby street. She allegedly had a large bottle of butane lighter fluid in a bag and that's not all.

After being taken into custody, police say they also found 6.45 grams of methamphetamine, a bag with over 20 grams of marijuana, and multiple hypodermic needles, which they say tested positive for meth residue.

Dunham was charged with felony arson of a dwelling with people present. She added two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

She was denied bond and was being held in the Citrus County Detention Facility following her arrest. This surely wasn't the happily-ever after she had envisioned when she set out to give love with her estranged husband another chance.