This browser does not support the Video element.
Abuse investigation expands at unlicensed assisted living home
Two people accused of operating a network of unlicensed assisted living facilities in Central Florida remained jailed after bond hearings were delayed because of conflicts in appointing legal counsel.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - Two people accused of operating a network of unlicensed assisted living facilities in Central Florida remained jailed after bond hearings were delayed because of conflicts in appointing legal counsel.
Authorities allege Marie Carrington and Ronald Pack operated multiple unlicensed facilities under the name Cherish Home Care, where vulnerable residents were subjected to neglect and abuse.
The 911 calls
Big picture view:
FOX 35 News has obtained records showing hundreds of 911 calls from desperate patients living in roach-infested rooms, with padlocks on the doors and windows trapping them inside. Investigators say those patients were denied food, had their EBT cards stolen by their keepers, and had their medication looked after by unlicensed providers.
The 911 calls came in constantly from Cherish Home Care’s several houses across Osceola County. They included things like Baker Acts and suicide attempts, batteries and assaults, and call after call reporting someone with no vitals.
The deceased
Records obtained from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office show a Cherish Home Care facility on Louvre Court called 911 four times in under a year and a half, reporting patients with no vitals.
A call on August 6th, 2024, reported the death of Natashia Luebbert’s father. The Sheriff’s Office and Medical Examiner say he died of heart failure, referencing problems with overdoses of his medications.
The Sheriff’s Office says the caretaker distributing medications was not licensed to do so.
Another call came in for a person with no vitals at 716 Swan Way in Kissimmee on November 29th, 2025.
The Sheriff's Office also reported removing a man from the Cherish Home facility at 2378 Great Harbor Drive on May 19th, 2025, for concerns about his health and wellbeing. He was removed by ambulance and passed away on July 4th, 2025.
The betrayal
Luebbert says her father was referred to Cherish Home Care by a community advocate associated with a homeless outreach center. Her father was facing homelessness, and they needed to get him into a facility quickly.
"They promised to feed him, help him bathe, and distribute medication appropriately," she told FOX 35 Investigative Reporter Marie Edinger.
She says that was the biggest thing they were looking forward to: that he would be taken care of.
"The whole situation was not at all what they had promised," she said.
The referrals
The question still lingering is how state agencies, health care centers, and nonprofits wound up recommending people to these unlicensed facilities.
James Ottinger says he was transferred there from Park Place Behavioral Health, and stayed in multiple different Cherish facilities over the course of five years. He moved in when he was just 18 years old, and called the Sheriff’s Office several times reporting various forms of abuse at the Cherish Health centers.
"It's insane and mind-boggling of how much you think someone's going to care for you. And then they just go back and they hurt you."
The funding
The arrest report says a DCF program called FACT, and multiple local behavioral health centers issued checks from a government-funded program to pay for the patients they’d transferred there. DCF has not responded to FOX 35’s requests for comment, except to say they’re looking into the matter.
Park Place Behavioral Health hasn’t responded to any of FOX 35 Investigative Reporter Marie Edinger’s emails or calls since last week. Neither has the University Behavioral Center.
HCA Florida said they cooperated with the investigation, but didn’t answer how their Poinciana Medical Center wound up assigning patients to an unlicensed facility.
The bond hearing
What's next:
A hearing on Monday, June 29 to discuss whether Carenan and Pack would be allowed out on bond was pushed back.
The Public Defender’s Office and Conflict Resolution Office both had issues that made them unable to represent Carenan and Pack, so the Court had to find the defendant’s new attorneys.
Pack will be back in court for a new bond hearing on Thursday, July 2nd at 1:30. Carenan’s new hearing is Tuesday, July 7, at 1:30.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Osceola County Sheriff's Office and court proceedings on June 29, 2026.