Zagustin is gone but her troubles remain

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON HARBOUR -- Although a newcomer to the world of Elena Zagustin,

a furniture mover hired to help the notoriously messy resident leave her

former Morse Circle home last week raised a familiar cry.

“I don’t know where her mind’s at,” said Robert Torres, of Santa

Ana-based Split Second Moving.

Before marshals came to formally evict her Sept. 8, Zagustin had asked

Torres to transport some of her belongings to another residence out of

state, he said.

But when he arrived at her place in Las Vegas, she was nowhere to be

found, sticking him with an unpaid bill and items such as a grand piano,

he said.

It’s hard to imagine where the instrument had stood at the infamous

one-story, cream-colored home, which the new owners recently opened to

the public.

Before cleanup crews finished their work this week, clutter filled all

corners of the property.

The floor was barely visible, covered with mounds of trash, tattered

clothing, bruised boxes and old, broken furniture. The backyard resembled

the path of a tornado.

Zagustin may have left town, but her troubles remain.

There are two warrants out for her arrest and her career as a college

professor is in jeopardy. The warrants were issued for separate counts of

violating probation and failing to turn herself in to Orange County Jail

last week, police said. Both counts resulted from violations of health

and safety standards, officials said.

Adding insult to injury, Cal State Long Beach sent the 62-year-old civil

engineering professor a letter dated Sept. 8, stating that she had

“automatically resigned” after skipping work for at least five days

without permission. The letter was posted on the front door of her former

home.

The new owners, led by Randy Durham, paid about $300,000 at a forced

auction in July meant to cover legal judgments against Zagustin for

turning her home into a health hazard.

Durham said the house will be renovated and resold. He hopes to make a

“reasonable profit,” although he realizes the house’s filthy past stains

its value.

“This is not a ‘home run situation,’ ” he said.