MIAMI — Alcohol use contributed to the death of a Nicaraguan doctor whose body was found in a Miami Dollar Tree freezer in December, according to an autopsy report obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday.
Dr. Massiell Garay Sanchez was found dead in the freezer of the discount store at 968 SW Eighth St., in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, on Dec. 13.
Authorities said the 32-year-old anesthesiologist is believed to have walked into a restricted employee area, into the freezer and then became trapped, remaining there overnight. Her body was found unresponsive by employees who returned to the area the following morning. Detectives ruled out foul play.
The toxicology report from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office states that Garay Sanchez had a blood ethanol level of 0.112%, which would have been above the legal limit to drive, and an ocular fluid ethanol reading of 0.156%.
She did not have any illicit drugs in her system, however. Her cause of death was listed as environmental hypothermia with ethanol use as a “contributory cause.”
Garay Sanchez’s family members filed an eight-figure lawsuit against Dollar Tree, claiming the store had a duty to protect its patrons from “foreseeable risks of harm,” such as walk-in freezers, and implement and enforce “reasonable safety policies and procedures.”
It also maintains that the business should have taken the “reasonable action” to assist in locating a customer who “was missing or unaccounted for.”
Garay Sanchez was survived by her husband, two children and other relatives.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
