What started as a dream honeymoon turned into heartbreak for Isabel Coles. After marrying the love of her life, she came home thinking the best days were waiting for her until everything changed overnight.
Right after what felt like the best few days of her life, Isabel’s world came crashing down
Just one day after they came back from their honeymoon, her husband, Christopher, ended his own life. Christopher’s body was found following their ‘perfect’ honeymoon.
The couple met on a dating app and quickly tied the knot
She and Christopher had met on a dating app around a year and a half before they got married in September 2024.
They spent their honeymoon at a beach music festival
They were at a music festival right by the beach in New Jersey, called ‘Sea.Hear.Now.’ Isabel said they were just “insanely happy and in love” the whole time.
“Music was a huge part of our relationship, it was the perfect way to celebrate our marriage,” she said.
But things shifted once they were back
He started acting different—not like himself. The 32-year-old widow said that even though their honeymoon felt ‘perfect,’ something was off after.
She said there weren’t any signs that he was struggling mentally. In fact, the morning before everything happened, he was doing laundry like it was just a normal day.
That morning, she noticed something felt weird
He’d been up all night updating their wedding website and then was folding clothes. She asked if anything was wrong, and he just said “nothing.” Then he tried to leave the house.
“We flew back home, and he stayed up all night putting our guest information into our website for the ceremony in May. In the morning, he was folding laundry and things were a little weird. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘nothing’. He went downstairs and tried to get out. I stood at the front door and asked what was going on.”
That’s when she saw he had taken his gun, and she tried to stop him from going out to the woods
That night, he didn’t come back. Christopher’s parents drove up from Georgia to help look for him. It was his dad who ended up finding him the next morning, September 18.
Apparently, Isabel didn’t notice any signs
“My husband was very successful and very driven and motivated, and he was such a good person, so looking back I think, ‘were there signs?’” She said.
“He was very hard on himself, always pushing himself. There were no signs, it did take me really off guard.”
RELATED STORIES
He had flowers delivered to her after his death
Even after everything, she ended up receiving flowers he had pre-arranged to be delivered while he was still away with the military.
Now, Isabel’s story has gone viral online, and she’s using her experience to bring attention to mental health
She’s even signed up to run the Chicago Marathon this October to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She knows people are searching for answers about why it happened, especially since Christopher was so successful.
“There are people in my life that say I had something to do with it. I know it’s not true, my husband and I were very happy. No one can change that or take that away from me,” she said.