The identity of an Arby’s employee found inside the restaurant’s freezer was released on Wednesday. Nguyet Le, 63, of Texas was found dead in the walk-in freezer at the restaurant in New Iberia, Louisiana on May 11. A cause of death has not been determined, pending an autopsy, officials said.
Police officers responded to the restaurant at about 6:19 p.m. on May 11, the New Iberia Police Department said. They discovered a woman inside the walk-in freezer who showed no signs of life. Iberia Parish coroner’s office pronounced the woman dead at the scene. The Arby’s restaurant was closed on Friday, reports KLFY. No further details of the case were released alongside Le’s name.
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Le was discovered by another employee, New Iberia Police Capt. Leland Laseter told KADN/KLAF News 15. Police do not believe Le’s death was suspicious, adding that “no foul play” was involved, Laseter said. They believe Le’s death was an accident, based on their early investigation, Lasseter said.
“A situation like this is unusual, so we’re taking extra precautions during the investigation,” Lasseter told News 15. “(We) pretty much have completed our process at the crime scene. After completely processing the crime scene… this does not seem like a homicide, it seems like an accident.”
Members of the Arby’s staff were interviewed during the investigation, and some may be called to answer questions again. “We’re going to re-examine all the evidence tomorrow and they’re going to conduct an autopsy to give us the cause and manner of death,” Laseter explained. “So there are a few more steps that we need to take before a (final) determination is made.”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a restaurant worker was found deceased in a freezer. In November 2022, Mahamadou Dansogo, 33, was found deceased after getting locked inside the freezer at Beigel’s Bakery’s facility in Brooklyn, New York. Dansogo was cleaning out a walk-in freezer when he became trapped for at least five hours overnight, police told CBS2. His co-workers found him around 8:45 a.m. Dansogos’ family said he was working with a large piece of equipment that may have turned on and trapped him inside. Dansogos was a father of five who moved to Brooklyn from Mali.
