True, but locking chest freezers require a key (from the outside). I don't know of any that lock automatically when the lid closes (for just this reason - kids would be playing hide and seek in them). They have to be designed to safety standards. Of course, if someone was very weak and could not push up with their hands or feet, I suppose they could gradually run out of air. Seems very unlikely to me.
I believe the MSM articles state that the relatives "discovered" the body in the freezer. If the lid was open, then the entire area would be smelling of decomp, leading them straight to the body. MSM says the Homicide Unit is investigating, so there must be at least a suspicion that this isn't purely accidental. If the lid was open, then intent to conceal disappears from the facts of the case, and while an accident seems unlikely, it certainly would be on the table. The second article on this thread has this sentence:
To me, that says the freezer was shut (frozen state). I can think of a few scenarios for that, but the first that comes to my mind (given that the body had significant decomp) is that someone died in the house, someone else found them dead and decomposing, freaked out, put them in the freezer and fled to parts unknown, having no desire to be involved any further.
OTOH, maybe there were intermittent power outages, etc. A lot of different scenarios for investigators to try and figure out - starting with the identity of the deceased. I will be surprised if the deceased is not, in fact, a proper resident of the house and most likely the family member whom the out-of-towners had come to visit.
Such a strange case.
metro.co.uk
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