Runaway Bride Image On Toast Has Runaway Buyer

A man who auctioned off a slice of toast carved with his drawing of the so-called runaway bride feels burned because the winning bidder has refused to pay for the item. Perry Lonzello, 48, used a piece of toasted bread as the canvas for his rudimentary portrait of Georgia bride-to-be Jennifer Wilbanks, and posted it at the online auction site EBay on a whim. The auction debuted with a bid of $1.11 US on May 1, but that amount grew quickly after the item drew national attention. And when the auction ended Sunday, Lonzello said a California man had submitted the winning bid of $15,400. Lonzello - who has said he planned to donate money from the auction to charity - was prepared to hand over the toast on national television Monday, only to learn that the buyer had a change of heart. "The purchaser reneged on the sale," Lonzello told the Star-Ledger of Newark, adding that the man was no longer returning his calls. "He said he was goofing around. I think some legal action will be coming out of this." Perry Lonzello, 48, holds a piece of toast with a drawing of runaway Georgia bride Jennifer Wilbanks on it that he posted on EBay on a whim Thursday in Newton, N.J. When the auction ended Sunday, Lonzello said a California man had submitted the winning bid of $15,400.