THE family of a mom-of-two whose naked body was found inside a freezer at a Dollar Tree store, have spoken out as the mystery of her death continues.
Doctor Helen Garay Sanchez was found by an employee inside a walk-in freezer at a store in Miami, Florida, around 8 a.m. on Sunday.
The 32-year-old was an anaesthesiologist in Nicaragua and was “abroad” when she died and had been in Miami since December 4, a GoFundMe page explains.
For the first time since her death, Sanchez’s family has broken their silence as they seek answers and desperately try to raise funds to have her body returned home for a “proper funeral and final resting place”.
“We’re not getting any answers,” her cousin Daniela Cortez told The New York Post.
“The thing is that even the family has a lot of questions. We don’t know how this happened either.”
Despite the unusual and unclear circumstances of her death, Miami police have said that foul play is not suspected.
However, her death is still being investigated, cops told The Post.
Surveillance footage taken from the scene on the evening of December 13 shows Helen entering the walk-in freezer at the Dollar Tree store in the Little Havana neighborhood just before it closed at 10 pm, cops said.
It was the following morning that an employee found the body of a naked woman in the cooler from the stockroom and called 911.
Investigators are still waiting for the medical examiner’s report into the cause of death which is currently listed as “undetermined” or “unclassified”.
It is possible that after becoming trapped inside the freezer, she suffered from hypothermia, which can cause paradoxical undressing before death.
This is where the sufferer is convinced they are overheating and so they strip off any layers they have on.
Both of Helen’s children are in Nicaragua with her family.
They have remembered her as a “loving mother” whose children “were the center of her world”.
“Her strength, warmth, and unwavering love for her family will always be remembered,” they added.
Residents of the neighborhood have been left shocked by the incident.
“I’m totally devastated,” one told CBS News.
“I can’t believe in the Dollar Tree you’d find a dead body.”
“We are aware of this tragic incident, and our thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones,” a Dollar Tree spokesperson has said.
“We are cooperating fully with the authorities at this time.”
The fundraiser for the family has surpassed $18,300 at the time of writing.
