Sara Burack, the luxury real estate agent who gained prominence from on the Netflix reality show “Million Dollar Beach House,” was homeless and living with mental health problems at the time of her hit-and-run death last week, according to a report in the New York Post.
Burack was 40 when she died after being hit by a car while walking along Montauk Highway in the Hamptons during the early hours of June 19. Mike White, a homebuilder and her former boyfriend, told the Post she was most likely looking for a place to stay when she was killed.
“She was staying in bank foyers,” he said, adding that she was “homeless by choice” after selling her car and condo. “She wasn’t driving anymore. She didn’t lose her apartment, she sold it. She didn’t have financial problems at all. She just didn’t want to deal with anything anymore.”
White said Burack may have endured a work-related breakdown created by excessive hours and a reliance on Adderall to fuel her job performance; Burack was with Nest Seekers International while starring on “Million Dollar Beach House,” but had been without work for the past year. He added that Burack’s mother tried wanted to get her an apartment, but she rejected the offer.
“She said it was bugged by the US government,” White said. “Her poor mother did everything. Her mom and her dad are the nicest parents in the world.”
An unnamed eyewitness to Burack’s presence in the Hamptons affirmed that she was in poor shape.
“She was needing mental health help for a very long time,” said the individual. “The last year or two, she was homeless. I would see her walking around with her bag. She was always at the library which was a sad place to go.”
Police charged Amanda Kempton, a marine biologist from Virginia, with leaving the fatal scene, a class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $100,000 bail.
The Southampton eyewitness stated Burack’s death could have been prevented.
“This was a tragedy – everyone knew what was going on and no one did anything,” the eyewitness said. “It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.”
