One of Sara Burack’s close friends is speaking out after the former Million Dollar Beach House real estate agent died in a hit-and-run in the Hamptons on Thursday, June 19.
The friend told the Daily Mail that she was “heartbroken” by Burack’s tragic death at age 40.
“She was the type of person who was always there for people who needed her,” the friend, whom the outlet did not identify, said in an interview published on Friday, June 27.
Burack was found by a passerby on the Montauk Highway in the Hampton Bays the morning of her death. She had sustained injuries consistent with being struck by a car and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
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Police have since arrested Amanda Kempton in connection with the incident, charging her with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in which there is a fatality. The charge carries a potential seven-year prison sentence. Kempton, 32, pleaded not guilty and was released after her family posted $100,000 bail.
Kempton said she thought she had hit a traffic cone, according to the Daily Mail. She is due back in court on June 30.
“She made her own money,” Burack’s loved one continued of her late friend. “She was proud of her life and what she accomplished. She wanted to handle everything on her own. She did not want anyone to do anything for her.”
Burak worked for Manhattan brokerage firm Nest Seekers International on the Netflix reality show, which ran for one season in 2020.
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“Viewers will be taken into the world of the Hamptons where they will see not only beautiful multimillion-dollar beach homes and estates, but will be shown summer in the Hamptons pre-COVID,” Burack told Hamptons.com in 2020 ahead the series’ premiere.
Despite her status as a Netflix reality star, Burack had fallen on hard times prior to her death. She was homeless when she died, the Daily Mail reported, and was often seen dragging a pink suitcase around Hampton Bays and asking local businesses for cardboard boxes.
Locals told the outlet that Burack “suffered a series of private struggles” that led to her condition, but they declined to say what they were.
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“Whatever happened to her, she didn’t deserve to die like she died in the gutter — in the street,” the friend added. “This woman hit her so hard that there was nothing left in her brain. The doctor showed us her scan. Her brain was damaged in so many places there was no chance for survival.”
Burack was laid to rest in a Jewish ceremony at the Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Queens on Sunday, June 22.
“It was comforting to know that Sara’s final resting place was up on a hill with the New York skyline peeking through a tree,” the friend said.