Inset: Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez (GoFundMe). Background: The Miami Dollar Tree where Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez was reportedly found naked and dead inside of a freezer (WPLG).
A Florida anesthesiologist and mother of two, whose life came to a tragic end inside a Miami Dollar Tree freezer last year, was found to have alcohol in her system, leading to her death from “environmental hypothermia,” according to the medical examiner’s findings.
Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, aged 32, succumbed to hypothermia in December 2025, with the autopsy report noting “ethanol use” as a contributing factor. Her toxicology results indicated a blood alcohol concentration of 0.112%, surpassing Florida’s legal driving limit of 0.08%.
Medical examiners, Jusmita Saifullan and Nicholas Barna, outlined in their report that Sanchez sustained “blunt force injuries,” including contusions on various parts of her body such as the left forearm, left hand, hips, buttocks, and legs, along with abrasions on her abdomen, left arm, and legs.
Despite the Miami Police Department stating no foul play was suspected following her discovery on December 14, Sanchez’s family has initiated a $50 million lawsuit, asserting that Dollar Tree employees are “vicariously liable” for her death. The incident occurred at the store located at 968 SW 8th Street in Little Havana.
Within the lawsuit, the family alleges that a manager instructed staff not to review surveillance footage after being informed that Sanchez was missing and had not exited the store, despite being seen entering on the Saturday night before closing. The complaint also accuses the manager of neglecting to take appropriate measures to locate or assist her once she entered the freezer.
The legal document states, “While as a guest on the premises, Sanchez became trapped inside a walk-in freezer within the Dollar Tree Store and subsequently suffered fatal injuries.”
“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.”
