Sandy Springs hoarder plans to return to condemned home

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The grass has been cut, but Mary Minter's condemned home remains filled with trash, two days after the Sandy Springs woman had to be extricated by four firefighters wading through chest-high debris.

Enlarge photo

Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com

Enlarge photo

Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com

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Minter, 38, was taken to Northside Hospital following her rescue, though officials there refuse to disclose her condition. Meanwhile, contractors have been been spotted at the Kitty Hawk Drive residence tallying estimates for the massive clean-up to come. Until that's completed the house remains unfit for human occupancy, according to the city of Sandy Springs.

"We've been working with family members to set up the mediation process," said Marcus Kellum, the city's chief of code enforcement. That process, which will allow Minter to return to her home of 23 years once it's brought up to code, won't begin until she leaves the hospital or appoints a power of attorney to act on her behalf.

The family has hired Sandy Springs Police to provide off-duty surveillance of the house, which has become a magnet for members of the media and gawkers alike. From the street there's little indication of the mess inside the Kitty Hawk drive bungalow, which is shrouded by a dense layer of ivy. Nothing can contain the odor, however, particularly when a summer breeze kicks up.

"That's why I stay inside the car with the windows rolled up," said the off-duty officer stationed in the driveway of Minter's modest home, located in a quiet, middle class neighborhood just off Roswell Road.

Firefighters were called to the house after someone -- no one seems to know who -- called 911, though officials won't say why emergency personnel were alerted. It took the firefighters 40 minutes to get to Minter, who was apparently trapped in her bedroom. Her rescuers were decontaminated as a precaution.