Horrified staff recently found an Arby’s manager’s body in the walk-in freezer of their New Iberia restaurant. Her death appears to have been accidental, according to the lead investigator. The Arby’s in New Iberia’s Lagniappe Village shopping center was the site of the shocking discovery Thursday evening during regular business hours. According to Daily Mail, crime scene tape blocked the entrance to the fast food restaurant while an investigator in white overalls was standing outside the restaurant.
New Iberia Police Department Sergeant Daesha Hughes said, “The New Iberia Police Department responded to the business of Arby’s located on East Admiral Doyle Drive at approximately 6:20 p.m. in reference to a body found inside of a freezer. The death is suspicious and being investigated.”
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“So it was an employee that discovered the female deceased inside the cooler, (and) the deceased is an employee of the restaurant,” New Iberia Police Capt. Leland Laseter told KADN News 15. Although Laseter did not immediately reveal the victim’s identity, citing an “ongoing investigation,” he confirmed she was a manager. Despite police labeling the death “suspicious,” the investigator told News 15 that initial indications suggest there was no foul play.
“A situation like this is unusual, so we’re taking extra precautions during the investigation,” explained Laseter, head of the police department’s Criminal Investigations Division. “(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.” Although he noted that these findings were preliminary, he added that “nothing has been established yet” as the incident “remains under investigation.”
He mentioned to KADN that a number of employees from the fast food outlet were interviewed during the initial investigation, and some of them may be re-interviewed. In the early morning hours, a coroner’s vehicle arrived and took the victim’s body to the morgue for an autopsy to determine the victim’s identity and what caused their death.
“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. So there are a few more steps that we need to take before a (final) determination is made,” the police captain said. It will take several days for autopsy results to be released.
