An Emmy Award-winning set designer was found dead under a pile of garbage and debris seven months after going missing. She was 66.
Evelyn Sakash's sister, Ellen Brown, found her decomposing body while visiting her New York City home with the intentions of having it cleaned. According to reports, Sakash was a hoarder and investigators believe she died in an avalanche of trash in September, sources have revealed.
"This is just devastating," Brown told New York 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."
Photos made available by the outlet on Wednesday show a house cluttered with garbage and other items, including boxes and household items. Her kitchen sink is piled with dishes and food. A family friend, Laura DiDio, claimed that K-9 dogs had searched Sakash's home twice over the last few months but her body was not found. Police also reportedly found nothing when they visited the property at least twice to remove dogs and cats that she had been housing.
Although a successful art director and set designer, Sakash began to spiral downwards after the death of her mother last April, a neighbor revealed.
"She became so much more withdrawn and looked sick," the neighbor, speaking anonymously, said.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."
Brown said that there was more to her sister than the reports about her hoarding.
"I don’t know. 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," she said.
"Every one of her friends would say she was the first person to step up if someone needed help," Brown further stated, according to People magazine. "She was so generous with people," she recalled. "I want all of that to be the final testament, and not that she was found in a bad condition."
Sakash's illustrious career spanned decades. She has worked on films including 1990's "Mermaids" and 2014’s "Still Alice," Variety reported. In 2003, she won the Daytime Emmy for art direction for the children’s series "Between the Lions." Other titles she worked on include "Search for Tomorrow" (1986), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent, (2006) and "Taxi" (2004).
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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