ST. GEORGE, Utah — A family remains heartbroken after a woman was found inside a freezer at a St. George assisted living facility and later died. The woman's son and his attorney calling it a systemic failure.
Last month, Rickie Rubick was found inside a locked kitchen freezer at The Meadows at Escalante. The 75-year-old was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite when she was discovered, and she died in the hospital four days later.
"She just loved to dance, she loved to go to shows, she'd go to the concerts," said Rickie's son, Anthony. "Her parents were very strict, of course, but she really enjoyed that. Very sweet, she loved to go hiking."
Rickie was formally diagnosed with dementia about a year ago, but her son says there were signs before that.
"I can think about times where she would just miss events," recalled Anthony. "Didn't call you for your birthday, and I'm like, 'That's not a big deal, I'm old enough, I can handle that,' but those were signs and things that I didn't really pick up on until much later."
Anthony cared for his mother at his home before she was first placed in one facility, but then moved to The Meadows at Escalante.
"Thought it was a beautiful place, people were nice," he said. "It didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped, obviously."
On Jan. 18, Anthony got a call that his mother was in the emergency room. Before Rickie was hospitalized, Anthony was told she had gone missing at the facility for a few hours, with staff checking everyone's room a couple of times before they went to the kitchen.
"They walked in that room, somebody said, 'Let's check in the freezer,' one of them didn't even know there was a freezer in this facility, and that's when they found her in there," he said.
Rickie was in the hospital for four days after being found.
"There were a couple of really nice moments when she told me she loved me," Anthony said.
However, Rickie died at the hospital on January 22.
"Right now, I'm just trying to hang in there and do what's right by her and just get things settled," said Anthony.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services opened an investigation and noted eight corrective actions that need to be taken and fined the facility over $10,000.
