Family of anesthesiologist found dead in Dollar Tree freezer files $50 million suit

MIAMI (TCN) -- The family of a woman found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Dollar Tree store has filed a $50 million lawsuit.

On Dec. 14, a store employee found the body of Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, 32, in the freezer. Garay Sanchez had reportedly entered the store near closing time and did not purchase anything, but then went to the employee-only storage room, where she died. The case was investigated as an unclassified death.

Law & Crime reports Garay Sanchez’s family has filed a suit accusing the store’s manager of instructing an employee not to review surveillance footage and failing to take reasonable action to locate or assist Garay Sanchez. 

According to the complaint, the store’s manager, Yanelkis Gonzalez, was aware Garay Sanchez was missing and had not exited the store. He was then asked by a customer to review surveillance footage to locate Garay Sanchez but allegedly refused to do so. “Gonzalez affirmatively instructed the Dollar Tree employee not to review the surveillance footage,” according to the complaint. 

In addition, Dollar Tree is accused in the suit of failing to install, maintain, and implement adequate safety mechanisms within the walk-in freezer, which the complaint says is faulty and in a location where customers could access it.

According to a GoFundMe set up by her family, Garay Sanchez, an anesthesiologist, “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.”

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