LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Terrence Doohen’s home is just outside the fence surrounding the Land O’Lakes sinkhole.
That sinkhole destroyed two homes last year and left several others condemned.
Pasco leaders say the sinkhole that swallowed two homes can't be repaired
PHOTOS | LARGE SINKHOLE FORMS IN LAND O' LAKES NEIGHBORHOOD, HOMES EVACUATED
While he and his family can’t live here, they do use it for storage. They keep gear they once enjoyed on their backyard lake
“All the fun stuff that we couldn’t use because we had to leave that house there,” he said.
But now all that stuff is gone. Deputies say it was stolen earlier this week by someone who broke in through a window.
Doohen says the stolen items included two kayaks, a wakeboard and ski tube.
“You have a hollow feeling in your body. Yea there’s a sinkhole and that’s terrible, our house is gone effectively. We are trying to move on and move forward. And to face this is gut-wrenching.”
Meanwhile, Pasco County officials are planning to build a permanent fence around the hole and a T-shaped turnaround where the street dead ends. It's supposed to be finished this fall.
But with no activity here, Doohen says it makes the vacant homes more vulnerable to thieves.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary, but Terrence isn’t holding out any hope he’ll get all their stuff back.
“There’s a lot of great people in the world, but it only takes a few. It just makes you think that humanity has nothing left.”
