A mother of two and a talented anesthesiologist was discovered deceased in a walk-in freezer at a Dollar Tree store in Florida, according to local authorities and media outlets.
Miami police responded to a call around 8 a.m. after an employee reported finding a lifeless woman inside the store.
The woman in the freezer has been identified as 32-year-old Helen Maciel Gala Sanchez, police confirmed.
The employee mentioned to authorities that Sanchez was found unclothed, as per the audio from the dispatch.
Dispatchers relayed on a police scanner that “the complainant discovered a naked woman in a cooler inside the store.”
Currently, there are no indications of foul play, and surveillance footage hasn’t shown anything suspicious. However, the investigation into Sanchez’s death is ongoing.
The details surrounding her passing remain murky. According to a GoFundMe campaign, Sanchez was a Nicaraguan doctor who was “abroad” at the time of this “tragic accident.”
She was recognized for her work in anesthesiology, particularly in congenital heart disease, and was said to have inspired hope among many families.
Her commitment to her profession and the care she provided to countless children stood out in descriptions from the fundraising effort aimed at transporting her remains back to Nicaragua for burial.
Sanchez was also a devoted mother, with two children in Nicaragua, whom the fundraiser noted were “the center of her world.”
“Honestly, I’m just heartbroken,” said local resident Margarita Puig, expressing her shock to CBS Miami.
“I can’t wrap my head around the fact that there was a body at the Dollar Tree,” Puig added.
Dollar Tree has not yet commented on the incident.
