Mark Heinemann had lived at a house off State Road 11, just south of Cody’s Corner, for many years. His ex-wife told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies he had been very ill from a lung disease. He was having difficulties breathing and was in a lot of pain.
On Monday, Heinemann, 75, was found dead in his home at 10723 Highway 11, of a gunshot wound.
His ex-wife, Sandra Krisko, 73, of Daytona Beach, had been worried about him. She would talk to him every day, and had last talked to him Sunday evening around 6 p.m. H’d said nothing about suicide, she told deputies. A neighbor told deputies he spoke to Heinemann at 8:30 that evening. Heinemann “thanked him for bringing food over to him and allowing his girls to come over and check on him from time to time,” according to a sheriff’s report. Heinemann also told his neighbor to make sure he has a key to his house, and to keep it with him.
Yet another friend who arrived at the scene told deputies that he’d talked to Heinemann by phone three times on Sunday, the third time for about 40 minutes, at 9 p.m., when everything seemed to be ok.
When the neighbor called Krisko and reported what Heinemann had said to him, she thought Heinemann may do something to end his pain. She tried calling him the morning of Oct. 21 around 10 and couldn’t get him. She drove up, getting there at 10:45 a.m. She went in the house, and found Heinemann dead.
Flagler County Fire Rescue reported to the scene, and a fireman pronounced Mark Heinemann dead at 11:54 a.m. on Monday. The scene was turned over to sheriff’s detectives and the crime scene investigation unit before a team from the medical examiner’s office in St. Augustine removed the body.
Heinemann’s was the second apparent suicide in two days in Flagler. On Sunday, Harold Rusty Bourgeois, 51, was found dead of a gunshot at his home in the Hammock off of State Road A1A.
The following resources are available for individuals in crisis:
In Flagler: The Crisis Triage and Treatment Unit (CTTU) is a crisis assessment and referral service for Flagler County residents experiencing behavioral health crisis. It is located at 301 Justice Lane in the Brown & Brown Outpatient building at the Vince Carter Sanctuary in Bunnell. This program is limited to individuals escorted to the program by law enforcement between the hours of noon and midnight daily. Law enforcement is able to transport individuals to SMA to assess and determine the appropriate clinical disposition. When required and appropriate, SMA then transports the individual to a receiving facility in Volusia County.
In Daytona Beach: Stewart-Marchman Act Corporation Crisis Center
1220 Willis Avenue
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Crisis Line: (800) 539 – 4228
Available 24 hours.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 800/273-8255 (TALK), or use the online Lifeline Crisis Chat, both available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
People 60 and older can call the Institute on Aging’s 24-hour, toll-free Friendship Line at 800-971-0016. IOA also makes ongoing outreach calls to lonely older adults.
If you are concerned for someone else, read about warning signs here. For additional resources, see the Speaking of Suicide website.
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tulip says
Was he under a doctor’s care? Why can’t the doctor give him something for his breathing and something other than opioid for his pain? I think it’s cruel someone has to suffer like that. Why don’t the make a 3 digit number for people with suicidal thoughts. There is no way anyone would remember or even know of all the numbers listed here.
ASF says
My sincere condelences to this man’s friends and family. It sounds like he went through a lot but could stand no more.
Heather Heinemann says
Thank you. He is my father. The most giving and loving father a daughter could ask for. He raised me on the farm.
Tacina says
Heather this is Tacina I am so very sorry. Mag me on Facebook.
Richard says
Listing all of the resources available to people who may be contemplating suicide does absolutely NO good whatsoever for those people who have been suffering from a long painful illness and no longer want to endure their physical pain. A better plan would be to have laws in place in every state that allow for self-euthanasia with the proper medication while in the presence of family, etc. Instead many states choose to ignore these people which causes the suicide rate and statistics to increase. There are a few states that allow self-euthanasia but you have to move there and become a resident FIRST. Too much trouble for most people in that condition.
mausborn says
First, condolences to the family.
American suicide rates are on the rise. Hers is the diagnosis, America and it’s not reassuring: failing health, failing graduation rates, guns everywhere and government debt. Our fantasies are driving us to an early grave. The very policies marketed to the majority in this country as “making America great again’ end up harming the well being of the majority. The wealthy are giving themselves a big gift, and sending the bill to the middle and lower class.
Heather Heinemann says
Thank you. I love my daddy.
Living in Pain says
tulip@….. Another pain reliever other then an opioid ? Could you tell us all what that would be . At 75 years old , he should have had all the “opioid ” he needed to stay pain free. This stupid government and its ignorant ideas about cleaning up the opioid problem in America because 117,000 dumb ass addicts couldn’t control their addictions and died. While the rest of us SUFFER with pain.
You will now see a major increase in suicides because of this .
tulip says
There are different strengths of opioids and many of us have been prescribed low dosage ones for pain from surgery and other things. Once the pain has disappeared, most people are not addicted. Some times I think doctors over prescribe the dosage. Secondly, a lot of people go to different doctors and get a prescription, winding up with several. That’s why there should be directory where all users of those drugs are listed. That way a Dr could key in on the computer and see if his patient is also getting a prescription for them from another dr. Heck, I can’t even get some OTC drugs like certain decongestants and others without having to sign for them and only allowed to purchase a certain amount at a time. That’s because druggies have learned how to alter them and get high. Yet opioids are not monitored in the same way,
In the case of a elderly person that is suffering from painful illnesses, let them have what they need for pain killers. So they get addicted, so what? They at least will spend their last days in relative comfort for gosh sakes.
NativeGirl says
My opinion and experience is very different from yours. I suffer from an extremely painful back disease. It is inoperable. I have been to tons of Dr’s and obtained many many “second opinions”, all the same, learn to live with it. Insurance red tapes and opioid protocols which were set in place due to the addicts have done nothing but put people with real problems in a position where opioids are not given regularly, nor in strong enough doses, and are in most cases denied to people who could actually benefit from their use. A person who could actually have a better quality of life is turned away due to the addicts abuse. Yet addicts will continue to find their fix where they can, purchasing pills illegally and they continue down the same road. The laws and protocols in place to “fix” those problems just turned those struggling with addiction to find another source. Meanwhile, people with an actual need, suffer, falling deeper into depression due to the constant pain to the point that they just can’t live that way.
Neb Waddle says
It’s funny. I attended a memorial for all of the trans people who were killed in the past year. I think it was around 100. In the whole country. They were mostly killed by domestic partners, violent johns, or bad drug deals. The promoted narrative, however, was that they were killed just for being trans folk, despite the evidence. That didn’t stop all of the outrage around ‘transphobia’.
In the meantime, suicide among older white men has skyrocked and continues to climb. But you know… nothing to see here… carry on…