Illegal Dumpers, Drug Users Find Way To Lost City

The only thing left in Lost City is some old kitchen sinks, used tires, smashed toilets and empty bottles of alcohol.

"It's here, it's there," said Brenda Thompson, a resident of Lost City. "It doesn't make any sense. God loves this world, they're just messing it up."

Thompson and her family live in Lost City, and they say illegal dumping is not the only problem. She says drug users frequent the area and hang out in the vacant, vandalized homes.

The whole mess is bringing the neighborhood down.

"What do they think this is, a garbage dump?" Thompson said. "It's not."

Illegal dumping in rural areas is a fact of life, but what makes the dumping on the road even more insulting to residents is that the area sits between two high-dollar golf courses.

"It's a mess, it's just a mess," said Arthur Kelly, a resident of Lost City. "I can't understand why they want to come out here and dump."

Lost City is in Moore County, and it is surrounded by Southern Pines, an affluent community.

County leaders say they have stepped up patrols to stop the drug use, but as far as the dumping is concerned, they say their hands are tied.

They have cleaned up the garbage on the county land, but the rest is on private property owned by absentee landlords. County leaders say they cannot find some owners and others will not respond to their cleanup pleas.

Moore County leaders say they are trying to find out if the district attorney's office can work with the Sheriff's Department and fine the absentee landowners.