The death of an elderly man at a Florida assisted living facility has rocked the state, with his family demanding answers.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, 83-year-old William Eugene Ray was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at The Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Trinity, Florida, located in Pasco County. The shocking discovery in late September has sparked outrage and heartbreak among his family members, who are now pushing for accountability from the facility.
Ray’s daughter, Kristen Spencer, told Fox 13 that her father had been checked into The Waverly after showing early signs of dementia. At first, she believed the facility would provide the care and safety he needed.
“You see things, and so you see these little things that start to send up concerns,” Spencer said, describing how she began noticing warning signs over time.
Concerned for her father’s well-being, Spencer installed a Ring camera in his room to monitor his activity. One night, she noticed him behaving unusually, and later realized his room light was on, but he was gone. When she contacted staff and rushed to the facility, she was informed that her father had been found inside the facility’s freezer. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A spokesperson for The Waverly said the facility “cannot accept a false narrative being pressed upon our residents and their families,” but declined to provide any further comment due to the ongoing investigation.
The family is now calling for transparency and questioning how an elderly man with dementia could have accessed an industrial freezer without staff noticing. Local authorities have not yet released details about how long Ray may have been inside before he was found.
