Heather Lacey Missing Update: Body Found Inside Warehouse Freezer After 6 Years

The body of a South Florida woman who had been missing for six years was found inside a freezer at a scrap warehouse in Margate, media reports said Monday. The discovery was made by the owner of the Margate business, Lilian Argueta.

According to Argueta, she opened the freezer and found the body of a woman in March and immediately notified police. It was recently revealed that the remains were of Lacey, a mother of two who was 29 at the time of her disappearance.

"I thought it was a witch, or a mannequin," Argueta told the Sun-Sentinel. "I thought, 'It can’t be a person.' But there was a bad odor."

Argueta told the news outlet that Lacey’s arms were raised as if her hands were pushing against the freezer door, and her legs were pushed back against her torso.

"I started to scream," Argueta said in Spanish about the discovery. "I had never seen such a thing."

Lacey was missing since Thanksgiving 2013 and despite efforts, she was not found. She was last seen in Deerfield Beach. In the missing report, Lacey's father said she lived on the streets and was bipolar. Family members said she had a history of abuse that began with painkillers following a cesarean-section birth. She also had been on cocaine and other narcotics.

The Sun-Sentinel had previously reported that Lacey had been arrested several times for drug possession and prostitution. She also had served a one-year sentence for forging a cheque and identity theft.

The warehouse where Lacey's body was found was used by Jonathan Escarzaga, who was found dead inside his Hollywood apartment in February. The freezer had been in his apartment and was moved to the scrap warehouse after the apartment manager hired a company to remove the appliances.

It remains unclear if Escarzaga and Lacey knew each other or whether he had anything to do with the woman's death. Also unknown is how long Lacey died.