Veteran Found Dead in Walk-in Freezer at Care Home

An 83-year-old Navy veteran was discovered dead in a walk-in freezer at a care facility after his daughter realized he was missing from his room.

William Eugene Ray, who had been showing signs of advancing dementia over the summer, was under the care of Waverly Assisted Living Memory Care Facility in Trinity, Florida. His daughter, Kristen Spencer, decided to set up a Ring camera in his room to monitor him when she couldn’t be there. This allowed her to observe his increasing confusion, but, perhaps naively, she thought he was still okay.

“You put your loved one there in trust,” Spencer remarked, expressing the heartache of the situation.

Ray’s family had made the tough call to place him in assisted living back in May, believing that professionals would provide the necessary care. However, on September 26, when Spencer checked the footage, she noticed that although the lights were on, her father was nowhere to be found.

After rewinding the video, it became clear he had left his room around 12:30 a.m. the night before and hadn’t returned. Spencer alerted her mother, who contacted the facility. Tragically, within a few hours, staff reported finding Ray’s body locked inside the freezer.

Spencer recounted her shock, recalling, “But the next thing out of her mouth was, ‘He’s in the freezer.’ So I said, ‘What do you mean he’s in the freezer?'”

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office initially found no evidence of foul play in their preliminary investigation. Spencer noted that while everything seemed fine at the facility, a few “little things” had begun to raise her concerns.

Now, the family is seeking answers. “If we hadn’t called the facility, when would they have found him?” she questioned, underlining the urgency of their plight.

Spencer expressed a desire for no other family to face such a tragedy, emphasizing the need for safety in places that care for vulnerable individuals.

The Waverly management defended their staff and encouraged the public to refrain from posting unverified reviews online, stating they had never before encountered an incident like this in their years of operation. They expressed profound sorrow over the loss and reiterated their commitment to delivering quality care.

Ray, often called Gene by his loved ones, joined the Navy at just 17 years old and served for 36 years before retiring. Post-service, he found employment in private land surveying and later with the Department of Transportation in Bartow, Florida.