Little Havana - Flagami

New evidence connected to woman found dead in Miami Dollar Tree freezer, cops say

Crime scene tape and a Miami police car are in front of the Dollar Tree store at 968 SW Eighth St. in Little Havana on Sunday morning, Dec. 14, 2025. A woman’s body was  found in the freezer on Sunday morning, police say.
Crime scene tape and a Miami police car are in front of the Dollar Tree store at 968 SW Eighth St. in Little Havana on Sunday morning, Dec. 14, 2025. A woman’s body was found in the freezer on Sunday morning, police say. dneal@miamiherald.com

Miami police are combing through new evidence that might help investigators solve the mid-December case of a woman’s body found in a Dollar Tree freezer. Her family turned over video showing some of her last moments.

On the morning of Dec. 14, Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez’s body was found by an employee in the discount store at 968 SW Eighth St. in Little Havana, Miami police said.

The investigation quickly revealed there was no foul play, and the 32-year-old walked herself into the freezer “of her own free will,” a spokesperson with the department told the Miami Herald.

Authorities already had access to surveillance video in the store, however, Miami police told the Herald on Tuesday that they were given a video of her taken by a family member a short time before going into the store.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no official cause of death had been announced.

Devoun Cetoute
Miami Herald
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
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