Inset: William "Gene" Ray (Barnes Trial Group). Background: The Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Florida (Google Maps).
A Navy veteran with dementia wandered away from his room at a Florida nursing home and into the walk-in freezer in the kitchen, where he spent the next four hours after he became trapped, a lawsuit said.
It wasn't until 83-year-old William "Gene" Ray's family noticed him missing from his room on a Ring camera at The Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care facility and alerted staff that the nursing home realized he had escaped, the lawsuit filed in May in Pasco County alleges. Staff searched the facility and located him in the freezer. He was shivering and barely conscious.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he died of hypothermia. His body temperature was just 66 degrees.
Ray's family filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit, claiming the facility failed to adequately monitor and protect the former Navy chief petty officer.
"Had the facility been properly staffed and/or had on-duty staff been alert and reasonably diligent, an unattended and roaming Mr. Ray would have been encountered and escorted back to his room thereby preventing his death," the lawsuit stated. "Had the kitchen doors been secured and locked while ALF kitchen employees were off duty, Mr. Ray would not have frozen to death on Sept. 26, 2025."
In an interview with local ABC affiliate WFTS, Ray's daughter Kristen Spencer described how she rushed to the facility after seeing her father missing from his room. When she arrived, staff put her in a conference room as they continued looking for her father.
"The director came in and said they found him, and then she said he was in the freezer," Spencer said. "And I said, what do you mean he's in the freezer? I couldn't even believe the words that I was hearing. From there it was just unbearable."
Ray moved into the nursing home in May 2025. From the outset, Ray was known to wander off from his room in search of his wife of 55 years, who did not live at the facility, per the lawsuit. He would walk into other residents' rooms and would mumble "incoherently." One time, staff found him walking outside.
As the months went on, he continued to exhibit confusion, at one point thinking that the year was 2010.
On the day of Ray's death, surveillance camera footage showed him leaving his room around 12:30 a.m. For the next four hours, he walked around the nursing home unnoticed by staff. He walked in and out of the kitchen and freezer several times during that period. At around 4:30 a.m., he walked into the freezer and the door shut behind him, locking him inside, the lawsuit said.
His family called the nursing home shortly after 7 a.m. to alert staff of his disappearance. They found Ray in the freezer about an hour later.
The Agency for Healthcare Administration issued a critical report on The Waverly, saying it had only one person watching 48 residents at the facility on the night of Ray's death, WFTS reported.
"There were systemic failures in staffing that we believe directly led to Mr. Ray's death," Ray's family attorney Steve Barnes told the TV station.
In a statement to WFTS, the assisted living facility defended its actions related to Ray's death.
"The Waverly acknowledges that a lawsuit has been filed by Mr. Ray's family concerning his residency at the community and the circumstances surrounding his passing. While the Waverly cannot comment in detail on pending litigation, it strongly disputes the allegations asserted against it and intends to vigorously defend itself through the legal process," the statement said.