Two weeks ago, Sue Powers affixed a handwritten note to a fence outside a trailer in Burlington's South End. It said that anyone who was curious about what had happened to the trailer's occupant, her friend Michael "Mick" Deloreto, should call her. Powers was compelled to take it down after only a few days; her phone hadn't stopped ringing. Many of the callers were strangers to her. They expressed deep concern about Deloreto, even though most confessed that they didn't even know his last name. The sudden death of Deloreto, 62, on May 28, has saddened an unusual cross-section of people in Burlington's gentrifying South End. He called the trailer with no electricity or running water home for two decades. He was a fulcrum in a homeless community that has long gravitated to neglected fields off of Pine Street. At the same time, he was well-known to employees at local businesses such as Myer's Bagels and to the artists hoping to stay in the developing neighborhood. "In the world of street life, he was kind of the king down there," said Powers, a Williston resident who runs an animal rescue and met Deloreto through a mutual friend. She helped him care for his two dogs. "People looked up to him, connected with him, asked him for advice," Powers said. "As bizarre as it seems to us, that was his domain. But the area is changing. I wonder if he could survive in this atmosphere that's coming." Even those who knew Deloreto best say his life story is a mystery. He came to Vermont from Connecticut more than 30 years ago, he told people, and never married or had children. Some thought he was a Vietnam War veteran, but his death certificate indicates he wasn't a vet. [content-2] "We could never confirm a lot of the stuff. I don't know a lot of the backstory," longtime friend Sean Havey said. "I understood that he just became disillusioned with society. He was fairly intelligent but didn't want to be tied to anything and wanted to live off the grid. He chose this kind of life." Havey and his father, Dennis, keep dozens of tractor trailers on a five-acre lot off Pine Street. Some of them are used for storage. In 1999, one of the trailers caught fire, Sean said. When Dennis investigated, he met Deloreto, who was living in another of…
Two weeks ago, Sue Powers affixed a handwritten note to a fence outside a trailer in Burlington's South End. It said that anyone who was curious about what had happened to the trailer's occupant, her friend Michael "Mick" Deloreto, should call her. Powers was compelled to take it down after only a few days; her phone hadn't stopped ringing. Many of the callers were strangers to her. They expressed deep concern about Deloreto, even though most confessed that they didn't even know his last name. The sudden death of Deloreto, 62, on May 28, has saddened an unusual cross-section of people in Burlington's gentrifying South End. He called the trailer with no electricity or running water home for two decades. He was a fulcrum in a homeless community that has long gravitated to neglected fields off of Pine Street. At the same time, he was well-known to employees at local businesses such as Myer's Bagels and to the artists hoping to stay in the developing neighborhood. "In the world of street life, he was kind of the king down there," said Powers, a Williston resident who runs an animal rescue and met Deloreto through a mutual friend. She helped him care for his two dogs. "People looked up to him, connected with him, asked him for advice," Powers said. "As bizarre as it seems to us, that was his domain. But the area is changing. I wonder if he could survive in this atmosphere that's coming." Even those who knew Deloreto best say his life story is a mystery. He came to Vermont from Connecticut more than 30 years ago, he told people, and never married or had children. Some thought he was a Vietnam War veteran, but his death certificate indicates he wasn't a vet. [content-2] "We could never confirm a lot of the stuff. I don't know a lot of the backstory," longtime friend Sean Havey said. "I understood that he just became disillusioned with society. He was fairly intelligent but didn't want to be tied to anything and wanted to live off the grid. He chose this kind of life." Havey and his father, Dennis, keep dozens of tractor trailers on a five-acre lot off Pine Street. Some of them are used for storage. In 1999, one of the trailers caught fire, Sean said. When Dennis investigated, he met Deloreto, who was living in another of…