Elderly sisters found living in garbage in upscale condo

Article Courtesy of WPBF 25 News
By Ari Hait

Published December 21 , 2016

 

Inside an upscale condominium right on the water in West Palm Beach, two elderly sisters have been living amongst garbage and clutter.
 

“Piles of furniture and mattresses stacked up on mattresses,” said Frank Buttaravoli of Hello Junk Removal, the company tasked with helping the sisters clean the place.

It’s hard to open the door to the condo because garbage blocks the entry.

Once you get inside, it’s impossible to walk around because of all the boxes, furniture, and garbage that line the condo from one side to the other. In some places, it’s stacked almost to the ceiling.

 

The sisters who live here allowed a WPBF 25 News crew into their home as long as we did not show their faces or use their names.

 

They said the condo has been in their family for about half a century and they really couldn’t explain how it had gotten that way.
 

They said they rarely leave their home anymore.

“That means that everything, all of their daily garbage, ends up in a corner,” Buttaravoli said.

Someone alerted the Department of Children and Families about the situation. DCF called Hello Junk Removal.

Cleaning the condo wasn’t easy as the sisters insisted on giving permission before anything could be thrown away.

After an hour of work, a dumpster was almost full but they had barely made a dent in all that needed to be removed from the condo.


Buttaravoli said he believes it will take several days of work before the condo is safe to live in.

CONDO ARTICLES HOME NEWS PAGE