The family of a Nicaraguan anesthesiologist whose naked body was found in a freezer in a Dollar Tree store in Florida is suing the retailer for $50 million.
The body of 32-year-old Helen Garay Massiell Sanchez was found in a Dollar Tree in Miami last month, prompting an investigation to determine how the mother of two wound up dead in the restricted, employee-only area inside the store.
Investigators say surveillance video captured a strange series of events on Dec. 13, in which Sanchez is seen walking into the store before it closed and going directly into the storage room where she stayed all night.
The next morning, an employee found her dead in the freezer and called 911.
After launching an investigation and speaking with family members, police learned that mental illness wasn’t a factor in Sanchez’s death.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed by her family alleges that Dollar Tree was negligent and didn’t take steps to prevent Sanchez from entering the freezer.
According to the complaint cited by Law&Crime, the family said the store’s manager was “placed on actual notice” that Sanchez was missing and “had not exited” the Dollar Tree. The suit claims the manager “failed to take reasonable action to locate or assist Sanchez.”
A customer allegedly asked the manager to “review available surveillance footage” to try to locate Sanchez, according to the complaint, but he refused.
“(The manager) affirmatively instructed the Dollar Tree employee not to review the surveillance footage,” and “failing to implement, train employees on, and enforce reasonable closing-time policies and procedures to ensure that all patrons and invitees, including Sanchez, had exited the Dollar Tree Store prior to closing,” per the complaint.
The suit also said the freezer in which Sanchez was found was defective and that store employees did nothing to prevent shoppers from “accessing” it.
“Dollar Tree was negligent and breached its duties of care to Sanchez by … failing to install, maintain, and/or implement adequate safety mechanisms within the walk-in freezer, including but not limited to an internal emergency release, latch, or alarm, to prevent entrapment,” the complaint concludes.
In a statement to People, a Dollar Tree spokesperson responded to news of the lawsuit.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the individual’s family and loved ones. While we do not comment on active legal matters, we continue to cooperate fully with authorities,” the statement reads.
Police have determined there was no foul play in Sanchez’s death after finding that she walked into the freezer on her own. An official cause of death has not been released yet.
The family said Sanchez “dedicated her life to medicine,” and earned recognition as an anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease.
“Her compassion, skill, and commitment to saving young lives defined both her career and her character,” the page reads. “Beyond her profession, she was a loving mother to two children, who remain in Nicaragua and were the center of her world. Her strength, warmth, and unwavering love for her family will always be remembered.”
