[ad_1]
An Emmy-wining designer turned hoarder was found in her New York City home mummified under piles of rubbish.
Police went to Evelyn Sakash’s Queens home Tuesday after her sister called police and told them a cleaning crew found the remains of the 66-year-old film and television production designer, The Sun reports.
Sakash’s sister Ellen Brown, who was tipped off after not hearing from her in a while, said the designer was a “heavy hoarder” and started in October 2020.
Looking to reconnect with Sakash, Brown went to Queens and hired cleaners to clear out the award winner’s home to see if she was inside.
RELATED: Garbage truck driver charged over death
Her fears proved well-founded when the cleaners found Sakash’s mummified remains at around 4.15pm on Tuesday, under a massive pile of trash in the kitchen.
“This is just devastating,” Brown, 60, told the Daily News.
“She had a full life. She was so extraordinarily talented. She was a brilliant mind.
“I don’t want my sister to be remembered like that, like the way she was found.”
“I don’t know,” she added. “This was clearly in effect for a long time. She sometimes kept people at bay. The headline says ‘Queens hoarder,’ but that’s not who she is.”
While the Medical Examiner’s office conducts an autopsy into how she passed, investigators believe she was killed by falling debris or was trapped by it and slowly died.
Sakash had worked on productions ranging from Sesame Street and Law and Order to Orange is the New Black and Still Alice, in a career that spanned over three decades.
She won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for her work on children’s TV’s series Between the Lions in 2003.
According to a neighbour, Sakash fell into a depression after her mum died in April last year.
“She became so much more withdrawn and looked sick,” the neighbour said. “I think that’s when she started to pick up more of the hoarding.
“I went into her house years ago and it was normal,” the neighbour added.
In a GoFundMe created in January, a friend of Sakash’s wrote that the designer had been missing since September 2020.
After Sakash’s discovery, the organiser updated the page to help Sakash’s sister pay for funeral costs.
“Please consider making a donation in Evelyn’s memory so we can support Ellen and remember her as the kind, loving, and generous friend and sister we live [sic] and will miss so,” wrote the organiser.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
[ad_2]
Source link
