Chilling find in Miami-Dade: Dead body in cooler behind bar. Days later, man arrested
A routine day of working on cooler boxes was abruptly disrupted for Reddy Ice workers last week when they opened one behind a Miami-Dade bar and made a grueling discovery — a dead man’s body, deputies said.
Around 3 p.m. Friday, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the scene where they found his corpse behind the Chicagoan Bar and Lounge, 10702 NW 7th Ave., an arrest report read. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue pronounced the unidentified man dead.
An employee told a deputy that Reddy Ice workers alerted them spotting a body when servicing the cooler. Officials noted blood was found in the cooler.
While investigating, detectives tracked down a fraudulent ID connected to Oscar Rivera-Peraza, a 35-year-old homeless man, the report read.
On Sunday, the man’s death was ruled a homicide by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office. Deputies subsequently found and detained Rivera-Peraza for questioning Tuesday.
Per authorities, Rivera-Peraza made a full confession.
As of Thursday, he remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Rivera-Peraza filed a plea of not guilty on the charge of second-degree murder against him, court records indicate.