TRINITY, Fla. — Our I-Team is looking into the case of an elderly man with dementia who died from hypothermia. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office says the man—who lives in an assisted living facility—was found in a walk-in freezer.
I-team Investigator Adam Walser got a tip from a viewer, dug into records to find the man’s name and tracked down his daughter. She says someone needs to be held responsible.
Watch full report from Adam Walser
William Eugene Ray was described as a loving husband and father
William Eugene Ray, who went by “Gene”, brought joy to those around him.
“He played the harmonica. I mean, he loved to play the harmonica,” his daughter Kristen Spencer said.
She shared multiple videos of her father playing his harmonica, entertaining residents and staff at The Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Trinity, where he spent his final four months.
That harmonica is now among the treasured keepsakes of a life cut short.
Kristen showed us models of bridges and battleships Gene built for his only grandson, along with drawings he made of planes and muscle cars.
She also proudly displayed a photo of a young Gene Ray, taken shortly after he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve at the age of 17.
He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve for over three decades and was buried on October 4th with full military honors.
Gene’s wife of 56 years, Carol, was presented with his burial flag at the ceremony.
“It’s beautiful”
Gene moved into The Waverly on May 19th because his family wanted him to be safe.
“He had dementia, and it was getting to a point where my mom just couldn't handle it,” Kristen said.
The facility, which opened last year, advertises “Elegance in living, excellence in service” on its website.
Kristen said she thought it would be a wonderful new home for her father.
“It's beautiful. Everything was decorated so beautifully,” she said.
But Kristen says red flags started to appear.
“There were issues with staffing that we were aware of. That caused concern for us,” she said.
That prompted the family to install a Ring camera in Gene’s room.
“How in the world is this happening?”
On September 26, Kristen woke up and looked at the feed, only to discover her father was not in his room.
She went through video clips and discovered he left the room at 12:33 a.m., but he never returned.
Kristen called the facility to notify the staff, then called her mom.
Kristen and her mother met moments later at The Waverly, where staff were searching for Gene.
“They were out looking, you know, of course we were distraught. Like how in the world this is happening?” she said.
Kristen said she and her mother were moved into a conference room.
Nearly 8 hours after Gene went missing, the facility's administrator brought them the bad news.
“She said he was in the freezer,” Kristen said.“I couldn't even believe the words that I was hearing. How could this happen? Basic safety measures were not in place to secure the kitchen.”
EMS arrived and rushed Gene to Trinity Medical Center, located across the parking lot from the ALF.
But by the time he arrived, it was too late.
“The doctor came out and told us that he had coded and that they were performing CPR on him. But it was futile. His core body temperature was 66 degrees,” Kristen said.
According to a report we obtained from the Pasco County medical examiner, the preliminary cause of death was hypothermia.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) are investigating.
A representative of The Waverly called after we contacted a staff member.
He declined an on-camera interview, citing privacy concerns.
He did confirm that Waverly is cooperating fully with investigators. He said detectives spent twelve hours gathering evidence and he says the facility turned over all its interior surveillance footage from that day.
He had the employee forward a screenshot of a statement that the business left in response to a Google review.
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. At The Waverly, the safety and well-being of our residents is always our highest priority. We understand that families place great trust in us when choosing care for their loved ones, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
Our community is licensed and closely regulated by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), and we consistently staff our building at more than double the minimum requirements established by AHCA to ensure attentive and compassionate care. We also maintain separate Assisted Living and Memory Care neighborhoods, each with safeguards designed for the needs of their residents.
Because of privacy laws and our commitment to respect for residents and their families, we cannot discuss individual situations in a public forum.
We remain committed to providing a safe, supportive, and caring environment for every resident who calls The Waverly home.
Attorney Steve Barnes represents Gene’s family.
He has filed a notice of intent to file a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence and deviation from standards of care.
“There's got to be multiple points that this could have been prevented. And that's what we're going to be looking at,” Barnes said. “Not just locks on two sets of doors, but how one of the residents at that time of the night can be left to wander common areas of the building without somebody at least asking questions or seeing why he's down there.”
He says lessons need to be learned from what’s happened.
“Well, it needs not to happen again. You know, we've done some investigation and found out something very similar happened in Utah,” Barnes said.
Woman found in freezer in Utah
That Utah case involved 75-year-old Rickie Rubick, who was found trapped in a freezer at The Meadows at Escalante Assisted Living Facility last year.
She died of frostbite and hypothermia four days later.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services fined the facility $11,200 for multiple violations and placed its license on conditional status.
Kristen says she wants justice for her father.
“They failed us. They failed my family. They failed my dad. That's the bottom line,” she said. “In those moments with him locked in there all by himself for hours...I just I don't even have words.”
Florida Department of Health records show that The Waverly had no documented violations prior to the incident late last month.
Share Your Story with Adam
Adam Walser has spent more than a decade fighting for what’s right in Tampa Bay as part of the I-Team. He’s helped expose flaws in Florida’s eldercare system and held leaders accountable for how they use your tax dollars. Reach out to Adam with any issue you think he needs to investigate.
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