A bizarre and tragic incident occurred in Minnesota last month, when a man who was wanted by the police was found dead inside a freezer of an empty house. The man, identified as Brandon Lee Buschman, had apparently entered the freezer on his own to evade the authorities, but was unable to get out.
According to the Gilbert Police Department, Buschman had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was seen by witnesses running away from the upstairs area of a home in Biwabik, a small town about 200 miles north of Minneapolis. The home had been abandoned since February and had no electricity. Buschman went into the basement and locked himself in a chest freezer that had a latching mechanism on the outside that prevented it from being opened from the inside.
The police found his body on June 26, after responding to a 911 call reporting a deceased person in the house. They discovered that Buschman had tried to escape the freezer by inserting a metal lawn ornament rod towards the latching mechanism, but the rod got jammed and failed to unlatch the freezer. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office found no signs of injury or trauma on Buschman’s body and is expected to release a toxicology report soon.
The police are still investigating when Buschman was last seen alive and how long he had been in the freezer before he was discovered. They said that the reports from the witnesses were unclear and inconsistent about the timeline of events. They also said that Buschman had nine prior convictions for misdemeanors ranging from trespassing to theft.
This case is a sad example of how a desperate attempt to hide from the law can have fatal consequences. It also raises questions about the safety and security of abandoned properties and how they can be used for criminal activities or shelter by fugitives.
