Sara Burack, Reality TV Realtor, Dead at 40 After Hit and Run: Alleged Killer Speaks Out in Court
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New York Post
27-06-2025
- New York Post
‘Homeless by choice': Tragic last days of Netflix reality show realtor killed in Hamptons hit-and-run
Sara Burack sold luxury homes to the Hamptons' wealthiest buyers — and even appeared on the Netflix reality show 'Million Dollar Beach House' — but at the time of death last week, the golden girl was 'homeless by choice' and suffering from 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,' her close friend and former boyfriend Mike White, a builder from Southampton, told The Post. But she was also, he added, a 'workaholic times 10.' And while that meant that 'she became one of the top agents here,' it also may have fueled a dangerous reliance on pills. 9 Sara Burack, who sold luxury homes to the Hamptons' wealthiest buyers, and appeared on the Netflix reality show 'Million Dollar Beach House,' died last week in a fatal hit-and-run. Sipa USA via AP 'She kept taking Adderall to stay awake and keep working,' White said, 'She was trying to work longer and longer staying up for all types of hours.' It's unknown why Burack was walking on Montauk Highway, near Villa Paul restaurant in Hampton Bays, in the middle of the night when she was struck in a hit-and-run last week. Police found her unconscious around 2:45 a.m. on June 19, and she was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she died. Amanda Kempton, 32, was later charged with leaving the fatal scene, a class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison, according to the Southampton Town Police Department. She pleaded not guilty and was released on $100,000 bail. 9 It's unknown why Burack was walking on Montauk Highway, near Villa Paul restaurant in Hampton Bays, in the middle of the night when she was struck by a car. @luxgrouppalmbeach/Instagram 9 'She was a real businesswoman. Savvy, smart. She was a really hard worker and a good person,' her close friend and former boyfriend Mike White told The Post of Burack. Brian Zak/NY Post White, who said he was by her side in the hospital, believes she was likely looking for a place to stay. 'She was staying in bank foyers,' he said, again stressing that it was by choice. Last year, Burack apparently sold her car and condo. '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.' Her family, he said, 'never gave up' and were distraught over Burack's state. 9 White, who said he was by his friend Burack's side in the hospital, believes she was likely looking for a place to stay on the night of her death. 'She was staying in bank foyers,' he said, stressing that it was by choice. Sipa USA via AP 'Her mom was going to get her an apartment— she didn't want it. She said it was bugged by the US government,' White said. 'Her poor mother did everything. Her mom and her dad are the nicest parents in the world.' A spokesperson for the Burack family told The Post in an emailed 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.' White, 56, met Burack, who grew up in Westchester and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn., at Hampton Gym Corp in Southampton around 2019. The two briefly dated, and he called her an 'angel' who helped him rent out homes during the pandemic. 9 White told The Post Burack, who appeared on the reality real estate show 'Million Dollar Beach House' in August 2020, had a supportive family who 'never gave up' and were distraught over her state. Entertainment Tonight/YouTube In 2020, she was a cast member on the Netflix reality series 'Million Dollar Beach House,' which followed agents from the luxury brokerage Nest Seekers International as they sold mansions in the Hamptons. The show ended after one season. But White started to notice that Burack's behavior seemed off in early 2022, around the time that she was involved in a $200,000 commission dispute with her employer, Nest Seekers, and Douglas Elliman over the sale of a multi-million dollar property in Southampton. 'She was obsessed with losing her listing and not getting her commission,' said White, adding that he sold the home as the builder. 'We don't comment on pending litigation and given the tragic events over the last week it should not be the focus,' Nest Seekers Hamptons area regional manager Geoff Gifkins told The Post. 9 Driver Amanda Kempton was charged with leaving the fatal scene, a class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison, according to the Southampton Town Police Department. T E McMorrow for NY Post The Post has reached out to Douglas Elliman for comment. Burack, according to White, became suspicious of her colleagues and grew increasingly reclusive. 'She thought there were things going on … that people were trying to put anthrax in her food,' he said. 'She wasn't eating regularly.' Consumed by the court dispute, Burack 'began spending all her time at the library, constantly researching things for no clear reason,' White said. 9 White started to notice that Burack's behavior seemed off in early 2022, around the time that she was involved in a $200,000 commission dispute with her employer, Nest Seekers, and Douglas Elliman over the sale of a multi-million dollar property in Southampton. @luxgrouppalmbeach/Instagram Multiple sources also confirmed that Burack spent 'hours' in the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton. (The library did not return The Post's request for comment). '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 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.' 9 White said that he and Burack's family '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.' Brian Zak/NY Post The Sunday before the accident that took Burack's life, White said, she called him up and said she was in Hampton Bays and wanted 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 was surprised to hear that Burack had been in an accident out of town. 'When I saw that she got hit in Hampton Bays, the first thing that came to mind was 'what is she doing in Hamptons Bays?' I don't know how she got there. 9 'She had a million friends … She had everything,' White said of Burack. @luxgrouppalmbeach/Instagram 'This was a tragedy – everyone knew what was going on and no one did anything,' the Southampton source added. 'It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.' White believes the tragedy began when people turned away from Burack. 'She had a million friends. She had material things, immaterial things. She had everything,' he said. But once things started going wrong for her, 'They all scattered.'
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Yahoo
Sara Burack, Reality TV Realtor, Dead at 40 After Hit and Run: Alleged Killer Speaks Out in Court
Amanda Kempton, 32, made her first court appearance Saturday to face charges in the hit-and-run death of 'Million Dollar Beach House' star Sara Burack. Kempton claimed, through her lawyer, that she didn't see the victim early Thursday on Long Island's Montauk Highway and instead, thought she hit a traffic cone. After she fled the scene, investigators say she drove to a friend's home with Sara's pink suitcase lodged under her vehicle.
USA Today
23-06-2025
- USA Today
Sara Burack death: Arrest made in fatal hit-and-run of 'Million Dollar Beach House' star
Police have arrested a suspect in a hit-and-run last week that resulted in the death of luxury real estate agent and former Netflix star Sara Burack. Authorities in Southampton, New York, arrested 32-year-old Amanda Kempton Friday, June 20, charging her with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident in which a fatality occurred, Burack's death, according to a release from the police department. In the state of New York, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, if the accident results in death, is a class D felony. Kempton could face up to seven years in prison. Kempton, originally from Virginia, was held overnight before pleading not guilty Saturday, June 21 and being released on bail, NBC reported. Her charges stem from a crash in the wee hours of June 19. At 2:45 a.m., near the Villa Paul restaurant in the Hamptons, Kempton is accused of hitting Burack with her vehicle. Burack subsequently succumbed to the injuries she sustained, according to Southampton police. She was 40. According to her LinkedIn profile, Burack worked for the luxury real estate firm Nest Seekers International. Burack also appeared on the first and only season of the Netflix reality show "Million Dollar Beach House" in 2020. The program followed a cadre of ambitious real estate agents as they attempted to hawk multi-million dollar estates in the Hamptons, a wealthy New York beach hamlet.
