Sara Burack, a Netflix star on Million Dollar Beach House, who was tragically killed in a hit-and-run incident had a troubled final few days, according to reports.
As previously reported, authorities stated that the hit-and-run occurred around 2:45AM on Thursday, June 19.
Burack, 40, was found unconscious on Montauk Highway near Villa Paul Restaurant and transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
At the time of her death last week, the 40-year-old was reportedly “homeless by choice” and struggling with mental health issues, despite an outpouring of family support, sources told The Post.
“She was a real businesswoman. Savvy, smart. She was a really hard worker and a good person,” said Mike White, a builder from Southampton and Burack’s close friend and former boyfriend, per the New York Post.
He added that she was also a “workaholic times 10.”
“She kept taking Adderall to stay awake and keep working,” White alleged. “She was trying to work longer and longer staying up for all types of hours.”
Following the incident, Amanda Kempton, 32, was later charged with leaving the fatal scene, a class D felony, and pleaded not guilty before being released on $100,000 bail, per PEOPLE.
White, who was by Burack’s side in the hospital, believes she was likely looking for a place to stay. “She was staying in bank foyers,” he said, emphasizing that it was by choice.
Burack had sold her car and condo last year. “She wasn’t driving anymore. She didn’t lose her apartment, she sold it. She didn’t have financial problems at all,” White said. “She just didn’t want to deal with anything anymore.”
Despite this, her family “never gave up” on trying to help her. “Her mom was going to get her an apartment - she didn’t want it. She said it was bugged by the US government,” White explained.
“Her poor mother did everything. Her mom and her dad are the nicest parents in the world.”
A spokesperson for the Burack family said in a statement: “People say all kinds of things when someone dies. However, the fact remains that our daughter, Sara, was run over and left for dead by a 32-year-old woman who claims she thought she hit a cone.
"Our family is in deep mourning and we will not comment further as we try to digest the loss of our beloved daughter who was a loving sister and friend to many.”
Burack grew up in Westchester and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn. She met White at Hampton Gym Corp around 2019. The two briefly dated, and he described her as an “angel” who helped him rent out homes during the pandemic.
In 2020, Burack appeared on Netflix’s Million Dollar Beach House, which followed agents at Nest Seekers International selling mansions in the Hamptons. The show ended after one season.
But by early 2022, White noticed that Burack’s behavior was changing. At the time, she was involved in a $200,000 commission dispute with Nest Seekers and Douglas Elliman over a multi-million dollar sale in Southampton.
“She was obsessed with losing her listing and not getting her commission,” White said, adding that he sold the home as the builder.
Nest Seekers Hamptons area regional manager Geoff Gifkins told The Post: “We don’t comment on pending litigation and given the tragic events over the last week it should not be the focus.”
Burack reportedly grew suspicious of colleagues and increasingly reclusive. “She thought there were things going on … that people were trying to put anthrax in her food,” White shared. “She wasn’t eating regularly.”
She began spending all her time at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton. “She’d sit on a bench with me for an hour or so and show me all these papers and her business plan,” White said.
“She was needing mental health help for a very long time,” a Southampton source told The Post. “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.”
White said that he and Burack’s family tried multiple times to help her. “We tried to get her into rehab. We tried to help her. Her poor mother did everything to help her. Her mom tried everything… she got an interventionist.”
Just days before the accident, White said Burack called him from Hampton Bays wanting to get food. “I only gave her enough money for food and for the bus,” he said.
“She wasn’t destitute. But she didn’t carry any money with her. I still don’t understand. Maybe she was just tired of it. Sometimes you become a slave to money and your career.”
The Southampton source admitted they were shocked to hear Burack had died in Hampton Bays, saying: “When I saw that she got hit in Hampton Bays, the first thing that came to mind was ‘What is she doing in Hampton Bays?’ I don’t know how she got there.
“This was a tragedy – everyone knew what was going on and no one did anything,” the source added. “It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.”
White believes the tragedy began when people turned away. “She had a million friends. She had material things, immaterial things. She had everything,” he said. But when things started going wrong for her, “They all scattered.”