Woman, 55, dies in fumigated home

GULFPORT -- Sandra "Sam" Demarest told neighbors that she would be in Orlando while her house was tented for termites. Her car was gone, and her cat was at the vet.

On Friday, Demarest's body was found in a bathtub inside her home at 5426-1/2 30th Ave. S.

Gulfport detectives said she committed suicide by hiding or slipping back into the house full of poison gas. The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy.

"We've got a tragedy," said police Chief Curt Willocks, who responded to the scene.

Demarest, 55, left behind a note and detailed instructions on how friends could be reached and where they could find her cat and Toyota Matrix, which was parked a block away.

The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services interviewed representatives of Professional Termite & Pest Control.

Pest control workers are required to check each room before releasing the gas, said Eric Hobelmann of Dow AgroSciences, which provided the chemicals in Demarest's fumigation.

"I'm sure they did," said the owner of Professional Termite, Robert Michael Bingham, who declined to comment further.

A free spirit, Demarest painted and held poetry readings in her back yard. She worked with a group of Gulfport residents to renovate the former Bayview Hotel, 2937 Beach Blvd. S.

"She was a very nice lady who fit right into Gulfport," said Poul Hornsleth of Caldwell Realtors.

Neighbors said she was quiet but did not seem unhappy. She dated a chef, but they broke up awhile back.

Gulport police went to the house at 2:49 p.m. Friday after workers with Professional Termite called authorities. They removed the tent and found Demarest in her nightclothes in the bathtub. The gas was pumped into the house on Thursday.

Detective Sgt. Ron Howeth said a two-page handwritten note, a spiral notebook and business cards were left neatly on her bed.

"Sorry to put such a burden on you," Howeth said the note read.

Termite company workers told police that they checked each room before pumping the Vikane gas, Howeth said.

Demarest either hid when pest control workers checked or entered the house after they left, he said.

Demarest, a native of Provincetown, Mass., returned from a trip there a few weeks ago.

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