Theresa Hanson, homeless Homosassa woman, found dead in restaurant parking lot
Theresa Hanson's most recent mugshot, from January 14, 2020, courtesy of CCSO.
Homosassa, Florida - Accordng to Brittney Carmen, Community Relations Supevisor with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, around 4:30 p.m., Sunday afternoon, May 22, her agancy received a call for service due to an unresponsive woman in a wheelchair, in the parking lot of the McDonald’s restaurant, located at 3740 South Suncoast Boulevard in Homosassa. First responders with Citrus County Fire Rescue arrived at the restaurant and pronounced the woman, 64 year-old Theresa Hanson, as deceased. No obvious signs of trauma were observed.
Earlier the same day, around 7:00 a.m., at the same location, a Citrus County deputy and a Citrus County fire rescue crew had responded to another call for service. These first responders arrived to find Ms. Hanson lying on the ground. They assisted her back into her wheelchair, but she declined further medical treatment.
At this time, Ms. Hanson's death is listed as unknown, pending receipt of the medical examiner’s report to learn her official cause and manner of death. After the examination is complete, her body will be turned over to her family.
Ms. Hanson is known to be homeless. According to Ms. Carmen, deputies learned that Ms. Hanson, by way of a Power of Atorney document, had been placed at a very nice retirement home where she refused to live, choosing instead to be homeless, for reasons known to Ms. Hanson.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Ms. Hanson was often seen in Homosassa, pulling a wagon, collecting cans for recycling, or outside local businesses chatting with customers who were coming and going. In her later years, I understand she was often seen sitting in a wheelchair.
Theresa had been trespassed from several locations in Homosassa and was arrested numerous times for trespassing or returning to some of the businesses she'd been trespassed from.
Ms. Hanson walked with a limp. When first seen hanging around local businesses, her posture was straight. She was tall, blonde and slender. As the years passed by, she began to slump over, her limp was more pronounced, her hair darkened. She began to age, and she put on a bit of extra weight. The years out in the elements took their toll on Theresa.
I once was behind her at a local pharmacy when she purchased food items and paid with a check the employee cashed for her. I wondered if, perhaps, it was a disability check, due to Theresa's limp, that perhaps, she was a veteran, but I never engaged her in conversation to learn about her. Going out less than in previous years, thanks to the Covid pandemic, I hadn't seen Theresa in about two years at the time of her death, but I wondered about her.
Theresa Hanson died alone, in an asphalt parking lot, without the help she obviously needed. Perhaps she was homeless because she had mental health or substance abuse issues, or maybe she was simply down on her luck and needed someone to give her a helping hand. It may have been that Theresa lived her life as she chose to live it.
If you would like to make a comment about Theresa, or know something about her you'd like to share, please contact Tom Russell or Debbie Russell at: TheNewscaster1@gmail.com.