Young woman found dead at Santa Cruz homeless encampment

UPDATE (04.10.19 10:45 p.m.): Santa Cruz Police tells KION that a young woman has been found dead at the largest homeless encampment in the city this week.

Police say they learned of her death on Monday. One of the woman’s neighbors at the camp spoke to KION on Wednesday.

“First I knew of it, the ambulance and the police department showed up and they were asking Austin questions and it seemed to me that she passed just based on the questions they were asking,” said Nathan, who lives at the camp.

Nathan says Austin is the woman’s husband, and he helped them move in. While police are still investigating what caused her death, Nathan says the woman was always looking for an inhaler.

“She had pretty severe asthma. It wasn’t just regular asthma, it was really severe,” he said. “Everybody within 30 feet of her could hear her breathing issues.”

This is at least the fourth person to have died inside the Ross camp since it formed in November. During their search, police found drug paraphernalia inside. A Santa Cruz homeless advocacy group argues these realities highlight the need for more permanent housing.

“The United States Homelessness Agency cautions cities against sanctioned encampments because they don’t… people are still living outside, they’re still homeless, and it’s not truly providing a safe and healthy environment for people,” said Lynn Renshaw, the chairwoman of Santa Cruz Together.

While the council voted to shut down the Ross camp, they are still finalizing when to do that.

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A young woman has been found dead at the largest homeless encampment in Santa Cruz.

According to Santa Cruz Police, the death was reported on Monday.

There have been at least four deaths at the so-called Ross camp since it opened in November. The camp is located just behind the Gateway Plaza near downtown Santa Cruz.

Police said they don’t know the cause of death, but they did find drug paraphernalia where the woman was found.