How did Evelyn Sakash die? Missing Emmy-winning set decorator, 66, found under garbage she hoarded at NY home
An Emmy-winning set designer who had been missing since September 2020 was found dead in her house. She was 66. Evelyn Sakash's body was found buried under garbage on her kitchen floor in College Point, Queens, New York, on Tuesday, March 30, at 4.15 pm.
According to the police, the medical examiner's office is working to determine a cause of death, though authorities do not suspect criminality in her death at this time. She was reportedly a hoarder.
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Workers of a cleaning company who were hired by Sakash's sister, Ellen Brown, to clear the house found the body, according to Madeline O'Connell Hartling, who created a GoFundMe campaign in December to raise funds to find Sakash. The page raised $7,515 of the $10,000 goal when the article was published.
"This is just devastating," Brown told New York Daily News of her sister's death. "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. This was clearly in effect for a long time," she added of Sakash. "She sometimes kept people at bay. The headline says 'Queens hoarder,' but that's not who she is."
Hartling told the Daily News, "I had no idea that she was living in her home like that." She added, "It was part of her life but it was not all of it so I hope she can be remembered more charitably... She should be remembered by the contributions made to the industry and with the kindness, she approached everyone she knew." According to Brown, her sister had "helped so many of her friends". "Every one of her friends would say she was the first person to step up if someone needed help. 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."
In her 30-year long career in entertainment as a set decorator and production designer, Sakash worked on shows such as 'Orange Is the New Black' and 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'. Sakash won a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy for exceptional achievement in art direction/set decoration/scenic design in 2003 for her work in 'Between the Lions'. She was nominated for another in 2004. In addition to television, Sakash had credits in more than a dozen movies, including 'Taxi', 'Still Alice', 'Mermaids', 'Paradise', 'Made in America', 'Mrs. Winterbourne', 'Every Messiah Is a Liar' and 'My Brother'. She also had ties to the 'Sesame Street' franchise as a credited set decorator for 'Elmo's Magic Cookbook' and 'Sesame Street: CinderElmo'.