Investigators identified the 32-year-old and said foul play is not suspected as the case remains an unclassified death.
MIAMI, FL — A 32-year-old woman was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Dollar Tree on Southwest 8th Street in Miami on Sunday morning, prompting a police investigation that briefly closed the Little Havana store before it reopened midday, authorities said.
Police identified the woman as Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez. Detectives said she entered the store Saturday night and was discovered around 8 a.m. Sunday by an employee in a restricted back-room area where the freezer is located. Miami police said there were no immediate signs of foul play and classified the case as an unclassified death pending a medical examiner’s ruling. Investigators are speaking with relatives and reviewing how Garay Sanchez reached the employee-only section after business hours. The discovery drew a cluster of family members and bystanders outside the store as officers taped off the scene and the medical examiner’s van arrived.
According to police, officers were called to the Dollar Tree at 968 SW 8th St. shortly after an employee reported a deceased person inside the business. The store had been scheduled to open at 8 a.m. Workers who arrived for the morning shift found the woman unresponsive in the freezer area and called 911. Detectives said preliminary information shows Garay Sanchez came in the prior evening, did not make a purchase and moved into the back of the store. “It’s something painful, a family heartbroken now because of the death of a person, and we don’t know what truly happened,” customer Gerardo Nunez said outside as police processed the scene.
Authorities emphasized that Garay Sanchez was not employed by the store. Investigators said early findings indicate she was not forced into the freezer and spent the night in the employee-only storage area. The cause and manner of death remain unknown pending autopsy results. Police did not release details about the freezer’s condition when first responders arrived or how long she may have been inside before being discovered. Detectives are gathering statements from employees and reviewing store procedures that govern access to stockrooms and cold storage. The business reopened to customers around 1 p.m. after investigators finished documenting the area and the body was removed for further examination.
Little Havana merchants along Southwest 8th Street, known locally as Calle Ocho, described a busy weekend corridor where most shops open midmorning. The Dollar Tree location sits in a low-slung retail strip near residences and restaurants. While deaths inside commercial freezers are rare, workplace and access issues have surfaced in past cases elsewhere, raising questions about nighttime movement inside stock areas. In this incident, police said there is no indication of a robbery, assault or struggle in the store. Detectives are reviewing the store’s interior and exterior camera footage to map Garay Sanchez’s path and timeline in the hours before she was found.
As standard procedure, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death, with toxicology testing typically taking several weeks. Police said the investigation remains open and classified as an unclassified death until those results return. Detectives are also contacting relatives and checking for recent calls for service or welfare checks involving Garay Sanchez. Any future reclassification—such as to accident—would depend on medical findings and additional evidence gathered from interviews and video review. No criminal charges have been filed or announced.
Outside the store late Sunday morning, yellow crime-scene tape cordoned off the parking lot as customers approached and turned away. Employees spoke quietly near loading doors while officers stepped in and out of the stockroom. A few family members waited on the sidewalk, some on their phones, others looking toward the entrance. “We just want answers,” one woman said, declining to give her name as the medical examiner’s team prepared to leave. Traffic along 8th Street slowed as drivers glanced at the marked patrol cars clustered near the storefront.
By late afternoon, detectives had cleared the scene and the store resumed normal operations. The medical examiner’s autopsy and toxicology results will guide the next steps in the case. Police said they expect to provide an update after the preliminary autopsy is complete. For now, investigators are working to narrow the timeline from Saturday evening to the 8 a.m. discovery and to explain how Garay Sanchez reached the freezer in a restricted area. The department said further information will be released when confirmed by records and lab findings.
Author note: Last updated December 14, 2025.