A routine morning at a Miami discount store turned into a disturbing discovery when an employee unlocked the doors and stumbled upon a scene that police say defied easy explanation.
Authorities say a woman was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Dollar Tree location in Little Havana early Sunday, setting off an investigation that has drawn attention to a string of fatal incidents involving freezers and cold storage facilities across the country.
An employee at the store contacted police shortly after 8 a.m. during opening hours to report what officers later described as a deceased woman inside the business.
The Miami Police Department identified the woman as 32-year-old Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez.
Public Information Officer Michael Vega said officers responding to the scene located the woman inside a walk-in freezer or cooler situated in the stockroom of the store. The freezer was in a restricted area not accessible to customers.
Sanchez was naked when she was discovered, according to CBS News, which cited police scanner traffic from the scene.
“Complainant found a naked female in the cooler of the store,” dispatchers were heard saying over police scanners.
Police confirmed that officers were dispatched after receiving a call from a store employee.
“We received a call from an employee, who reported that there was a deceased woman inside of the business, inside of the freezer,” a Miami Police Department spokesperson said.
“No foul play is suspected, but it’s still an active and ongoing investigation.”
Investigators believe Sanchez entered the store Saturday night shortly before closing.
Employees told police she did not make a purchase and was later seen heading toward the rear of the store, where storage rooms and freezers are located.
Police said there were no immediate signs that Sanchez had been forced into the freezer.
How she gained access to the restricted area and why she entered the freezer remain unanswered questions as the investigation continues.
Family members of Sanchez were seen at the Dollar Tree location on Sunday as officers processed the scene, according to the Miami Herald. Relatives declined to comment publicly.
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Online fundraising efforts soon followed. A GoFundMe page created by friends and family described Sanchez as an anesthesiologist who specialized in congenital heart disease.
The page noted that she was originally from Nicaragua and that her two children live there.
“Dr. Helen Garay passed away following a tragic accident while abroad,” the fundraising page stated. “Her family’s greatest wish is to bring her back to Nicaragua for a proper funeral and final resting place, surrounded by her loved ones.”
“The family is currently raising funds to cover the costs of repatriation, transportation, and funeral services in Nicaragua,” the post added.
The circumstances surrounding Sanchez’s death echoed other recent investigations involving people found unresponsive or deceased inside freezers and cold storage areas.
In Texas, federal workplace safety officials are examining the death of a woman who collapsed while working inside a freezer at an H-E-B warehouse in San Antonio last month.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an inquiry into the death of 27-year-old Teresa Dominguez, who died on October 24.
She was discovered unconscious inside a freezer and later pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Initial police reports suggested Dominguez may have died following a forklift-related incident.
H-E-B later challenged that account, stating that her death was the result of what the company described as a medical episode.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that Dominguez died from “blunt trauma of the lower extremity,” a finding that remains under review as OSHA continues its investigation.
Another case in Florida has prompted scrutiny after an elderly man was found dead inside a freezer at his assisted living facility.
Eugene Ray, 83, was discovered in a walk-in freezer at The Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Trinity on September 26.
His daughter, Kristen Spencer, said she became alarmed after reviewing footage from a Ring camera she had installed in his room.
“I woke up the next morning, and when I looked at the Ring camera, the light was on, and he was not in his room,” Spencer told WTVT.
Spencer said her concerns about the facility had grown over time. “There was no issues right at the beginning,” she said.
“As time progressed, though, you see, when you’re there all the time, you see things, and so you see these little things that start to send up concerns.”
She said she struggled to comprehend how her father ended up in the kitchen freezer.
“I couldn’t even believe the words that I was hearing. How could this happen? Basic safety measures were not in place to secure the kitchen,” Spencer told WFTS.
According to Spencer, a doctor informed the family that CPR had been attempted, but her father’s core body temperature was 66 degrees, suggesting he had been deceased for an extended period.
The Pasco County medical examiner later determined that Ray died of hypothermia.
Ray, who was physically active but had begun showing signs of dementia, had moved into The Waverly in May after his family decided he needed additional care.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Agency for Health Care Administration are investigating the circumstances of his death.
“We need answers, we need answers,” Spencer told WTVT. “How could this happen?”
In California, prosecutors have filed charges in a separate and deeply troubling case involving a child found dead inside an ice-filled cooler at an apartment complex in Lynwood.
Authorities charged the boy’s mother, 25-year-old Destiny Harrison; his father, Daniel Monzon, also 25; and his grandmother, 45-year-old Ana Zarceno-Carcamo, with murder, torture, and willful cruelty to a child.
Prosecutors also alleged willful harm resulting in death. Monzon and Zarceno-Carcamo face additional charges as accessories after the fact.
Deputies responded to the apartment after a welfare check was requested by an unidentified resident.
Paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived and pronounced the child dead at the scene. The boy was believed to be 8-years-old.
Details surrounding how the child died have not been publicly disclosed.
Authorities detained the mother, father, and grandmother at the apartment, where three other children were found.
Those children, ages 9, 13, and 16 months, were taken into protective custody by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services as the investigation continues.
