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'Some people have big machetes on their belt' | People living along the American River Parkway say it isn't safe

County Pandemic guidelines limit rangers from relocating or dispersing encampments.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — Homicide investigators are still trying to find witnesses who may have information regarding the death of a homeless woman found along the American River Parkway Sunday. Right now, they have few leads, but those living along the parkway say violence is increasing.

Every Monday the volunteers with Works of Mercy Homeless Outreach group hand out food and other supplies to the needy along the parkway. Volunteers are part of the Good Shepherds Catholic church in Elk Grove. Since the start of the pandemic, Betty May and Mike Blakey have seen the homeless population grow. 

“People are not being moved on because of COVID so they are staying in specific locations,” said Betty May.

The specific locations May is talking about are encampments like the ones near the Lincoln and Arden Garden bridges. On more than one occasion Mike Blakey has encountered people with weapons. 

“If you look around, some people have big machetes on their belt. Big knives,” says Blakey.

The Mercy Homeless Outreach team works in the same area where a homeless woman was found dead over the weekend. Police have released few details but say her injuries could be from an assault. The parkway death has many homeless women like Julie Maestas thinking about moving. 

“I live right under the bridge and I used to feel comfortable," said Maestas. "I don’t feel comfortable now.”

Julie Maestas knew the woman who was found dead. She says the encampments in this area are overcrowded and it’s causing violent conflicts that don’t always result in speedy law enforcement response. 

“Assaults or whatever they don’t come out here," she explained. "The only time you see them out here is when there is when somebody is already dead."

Sacramento County Chief Park Ranger Leonard Orman says the response time is not the problem. It's overcrowding. County Pandemic guidelines limit rangers from relocating or dispersing encampments.

“Obviously with the COVID restrictions and recent court decisions, tools have been taken away from us,” says Orman. “We can’t limit the population. We have no control over it.”

Orman says rangers routinely offer support to those living in the camps but for a number of reasons, like drug use or mental illness, those services are not always used. That leaves people like Betty May and Mike Blakey to serve the homeless along the parkway any way they can. 

“We can’t solve the problem, but we can feed a few people,” said Blakey.

WATCH NEXT: American River homeless campers share their stories of unsheltered life in Sacramento (Nov. 2019)

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