An elderly man with dementia was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at an assisted living facility

A veteran with dementia was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at a nursing facility after his daughter noticed he was missing from his room.

William Eugene Ray, 83, a U.S. Navy veteran and father of two, showed signs that his dementia was progressing rapidly over the summer, so his daughter, Christine Spencer, installed a Ring camera in his room at Waverly Assisted Living and Memory Care in Trinity, Florida.

Through the camera, Spencer was able to keep an eye on her sick father even when she wasn’t visiting him. She watched him get more and more confused, but she was confident he was in good hands.

“You put your loved one out there with confidence,” she said. Fox 13.

Ray’s family made the difficult decision to move him to assisted living in May so he could receive a level of care that only trained professionals can provide.

On September 26, Spencer checked footage of the episode and noticed that “the light was on,” but her father “wasn’t in his room.”

Spencer replayed the footage and saw that Ray left the room around 12:30 a.m. the night before and did not return, Fox 13 reported.

Spencer called her mother, who contacted the facility. Within a few hours, an employee discovered Ray’s body trapped inside the freezer room.

“But the next words out of her mouth were, ‘He’s in the refrigerator.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean he’s in the refrigerator?’” Spencer told the outlet.

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said a preliminary investigation showed no signs of foul play.

Since Ray began living at the facility, Spencer said there have been “no issues,” but noted that “little things” have slowly come to light that “started to raise concerns.”

Now, the family is struggling for answers.

“If we hadn’t contacted the facility, when would they have found her?” Spencer wondered.

She added that they want to make sure that “no other family will have to endure” what they have.

“When you have vulnerable people in a place, you have to secure those areas,” she told the outlet.

The Waverly has stood by its employees and asked the public to stop leaving “unmoderated, anonymous and unrealistic reviews” online.

“We have never experienced an incident of this type in our many years of operating in the assisted living space. Our community is deeply saddened by this heartbreaking loss. The grief felt by all of our staff is indescribable. We are truly proud of our staff’s profound and immediate response to the situation and are grateful for their continued compassion, dedication and professionalism,” The Waverly wrote in a statement obtained by the outlet.

“We remain confident in the high level of service, comfort and care we provide our residents as one of the leading assisted living and memory care communities in Florida.”

Ray, known as Jane to friends and family, joined the Navy when he was just 17 years old. He retired after 36 years in the armed forces.

Upon returning home, he worked for a private land surveying company before landing a job with the Department of Transportation in Bartow, Fla., he said. Obituary.