BOROUGH PARK — A Brooklyn beautician missing after a devastating Borough Park blast may have sparked the explosion to commit suicide by igniting volatile chemicals from her salon, sources say.
Francisca Figueroa, 47, a mother of three who lived on the second floor of 4206 13th Ave., near 42nd Street in Borough Park, posted suicidal thoughts in the days before the building was destroyed at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The mother, who also went by the first name "Franchezka," texted her son and daughter, "Sorry, I love you," not long before the blast, sources said, and that her social media accounts revealed she "was unhappy with my life."
Investigators initially believed she sparked the blaze by improperly removing a stove while moving out of the building, creating a deadly leak. But police now say that the gas was, in fact, properly turned off.
Now they suspect Figueroa, a beautician who was being evicted, may have brought volatile chemicals home from her nearby beauty parlor, the Franchezka Unisex Salon, and used them to create the massive explosion.
She has been missing since the blast.
Her third-floor neighbor, Ligia Puello, 64, was killed in the blast. A second body was found but has not yet been officially identified.
Thirteen others were injured, including a 34-year-old man and a 9-year-old boy, both of whom suffered broken bones.
Sara Diaz, 56, who is the godmother to Figueroa's daughter, Lecha Aceveda, said that Figueroa had been struggling financially and had been taken to housing court by her landlord.
"She was a beautiful person, a very caring person," she said.
Figueroa had been working hard to support her beauty salon on Fifth Avenue and 12th Street in Park Slope, according to Diaz's husband, Frank Diaz.
"She was always up and about working long hours seven days a week," he said.
