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A veteran who recently showed signs of progressing dementia was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a Florida assisted living facility, his daughter Kristen Spencer, told FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
William Eugene Ray, 83, a U.S. Navy veteran and father of two, quickly progressed in his diagnosis over the summer, so Spencer installed a Ring camera in his room at Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Trinity, Florida, to monitor her ailing father when she was unable to visit. Spencer said she checked the Ring footage on September 26 and noticed that "the light was on" but her father "was not in the room."
Spencer said she rewound the footage and saw him exit his room at around 12:30 a.m. the previous night and never returned. Spencer called her mother, who then called the facility and Ray was found dead inside a walk-in freezer hours later.
“But then the next words out of her mouth was, ‘He’s in the freezer.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean he’s in the freezer?’” Spencer told FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office said no signs of foul play were found during its preliminary investigation. Spencer said there had previously been "no issues" but acknowledged that "little things" slowly “start[ed] to send up concerns.”
“If we had not called the facility, when would they have found them?” she added, stating that she wanted to ensure that “no other family will have to endure” similar incidents.