Mother of 2 got ‘trapped’ inside Dollar Tree freezer, manager told worker on duty ‘not to review the surveillance footage’ after victim couldn’t be found
Inset: Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez (GoFundMe). Background: The Miami Dollar Tree where Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez was reportedly found naked and dead inside of a freezer (WPLG).
A Florida anesthesiologist and mother of two was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Miami Dollar Tree last year, prompting her family to file a $50 million lawsuit alleging negligence by store management.
Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, 32, was discovered inside the store at 968 SW 8th Street in Little Havana on Dec. 14, according to the Miami Police Department. A 911 dispatcher, heard on police radio traffic cited by local media, described the situation as a report of a woman found inside a store cooler.
Police said an employee called to report that a deceased woman had been found in the freezer. Officers responding to the scene located Sanchez’s body in a restricted, employee-only area of the store. Investigators said there were no signs she had been forced into the freezer, but it remained unclear how she entered the space. Authorities noted that Sanchez had been seen walking into the store the night before it closed and did not appear to make a purchase.
According to police, surveillance reportedly showed her moving toward a freezer area in the back storage room. “No foul play is suspected, but it’s still an active and ongoing investigation,” a Miami Police spokesperson said.
In the lawsuit, Sanchez’s family alleges she became trapped inside the walk-in freezer while on the premises and later died as a result. The complaint claims Dollar Tree had a duty to maintain a safe environment for customers and to ensure that potentially hazardous areas, including walk-in freezers, were properly secured and equipped with safety mechanisms.
The lawsuit further alleges that store manager Yanelkis Gonzalez was informed that Sanchez had not exited the store before closing. According to the complaint, a customer asked the manager to review surveillance footage to help locate her, but the manager allegedly refused and instructed an employee not to review the video.
The family also claims the store failed to enforce procedures to ensure all customers had left before closing and that the freezer lacked adequate internal safety features, such as an emergency release or alarm, to prevent entrapment.
Dollar Tree representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Originally from Nicaragua, Sanchez is remembered by family and friends as a dedicated physician and devoted mother. A fundraiser created for her family describes her as an anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease who devoted her career to helping children and their families. She is survived by her two children, who live in Nicaragua.
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