Tragic Incident: Anesthesiologist Mom’s Fatal Freezer Entrapment at Dollar Tree Sparks Lawsuit and Investigation

A tragic incident unfolded last year involving a Florida-based anesthesiologist and mother of two, who was discovered deceased inside a freezer at a Miami Dollar Tree. According to the medical examiner, she had alcohol in her system and succumbed to “environmental hypothermia.”

The official autopsy report for the 32-year-old, Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, was accessed by Law&Crime and attributes her December 2025 death primarily to hypothermia, with “ethanol use” as a contributing factor. Her toxicology report revealed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.112%, surpassing Florida’s legal driving limit of 0.08%.

Medical examiners Jusmita Saifullan and Nicholas Barna noted in their report that Sanchez had suffered “blunt force injuries,” including bruises on her left forearm, hand, hips, buttocks, and lower limbs, alongside abrasions on her abdomen, left arm, and legs.

Following Sanchez’s discovery on December 14, the Miami Police Department informed Law&Crime that “no foul play is suspected.” Nevertheless, her family has pursued a $50 million lawsuit against Dollar Tree, claiming the staff’s “vicarious liability” in her death. The store is located at 968 SW 8th Street in the Little Havana area.

The legal complaint filed by Sanchez’s family alleges a manager instructed an employee “not to review the surveillance footage” after being informed that Sanchez was missing and had not left the Dollar Tree. The lawsuit claims that she was last observed entering the store on Saturday night before closing and accuses the manager of failing to take “reasonable action to locate or assist” her once she entered the freezer.

“While an invitee on the premises, Sanchez became trapped inside a walk-in freezer located within the Dollar Tree Store and thereafter sustained fatal injuries,” the complaint says.

“At all times material, Dollar Tree owed Sanchez and other invitees a nondelegable duty to exercise reasonable care in the ownership, operation, inspection, maintenance, and supervision of the Dollar Tree Store, including … securing and safely maintaining dangerous instrumentalities, including walk-in freezers … and taking reasonable action to locate and assist invitees after being placed on notice that a customer was missing or unaccounted for,” the complaint adds.

Police told Law&Crime that dispatch “received a call from an employee, who reported that there was a deceased woman inside of the business, inside of the freezer,” on the night Sanchez disappeared. A 911 dispatcher was heard on a police scanner saying, “Complainant found a naked female in the cooler of the store,” according to local CBS affiliate WFOR.

Officers responded to the Dollar Tree and allegedly found Sanchez’s body in a freezer located in a restricted, employee-only area inside of the discount store. Police said it didn’t appear that Sanchez was forced into the freezer, but it was unclear how she ended up there. Cops said Sanchez didn’t buy anything and was spotted making her way to the freezer in the back storage room.

The store manager, Yanelkis Gonzalez, was asked by a customer to “review available surveillance footage” to try and locate Sanchez, according to her family’s complaint. But he allegedly refused.

“Gonzalez affirmatively instructed the Dollar Tree employee not to review the surveillance footage,” the complaint says.

Gonzalez is also accused of “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. Sanchez’s family also says the freezer in question was faulty and store workers failed 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.

Dollar Tree management has not responded to Law&Crime’s requests for comment.

A GoFundMe launched for Sanchez’s family describes her as a “devoted” doctor and “beloved” mother who “dedicated her life to medicine, earning recognition as an Anesthesiologist specializing in congenital heart disease whose work brought hope and healing to countless children and families.”

“Her compassion, skill, and commitment to saving young lives defined both her career and her character,” the GoFundMe says of Sanchez, who was originally from Nicaragua. “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.”