As the number of homeless people climbs in the US, so does the number of people dying from desperation. A woman has recently been found dead in a clothes donation box, trying to pull some garments from the small opening.
At around 6.45 am, a local woman in Plantation, Florida, noticed something amiss with her local clothes donation box. Intending to drop off some clothes, she saw that someone was trapped inside the box. While trying to recover some clothes, they had become wedged in the small opening.
When the police arrived at the scene, it appeared that the woman had died in her attempts. Unable to get in or out, it seems that she had asphyxiated. At present, the investigation by local police is trying to determine if the death was accidental or intentional. However, currently, they suspect it was an accidental death.
Her name has not yet been revealed. But once the investigation has determined her next of kin, they will be informed.
Death of Homeless Woman In Clothes Donation Box Not The First of Its Kind
This case is not the first of its kind. There have been other situations in which people have climbed into the clothes donation bins and died. A study in 2019 found that eight people had died in clothes donation boxes in a ten-year period in British Columbia and Ontario alone. There have been many more reported since then.
The clothes, intended for the less fortunate, are often needed by desperate people before they are distributed. The donation sites are a tempting place to attempt to grab some new garments. However, due to the nature of the entrances, they can become fatally dangerous.
The design is intended to stop people and animals from gaining entrance to the donated clothes. However, this can, and has on multiple occasions, led to people becoming trapped and losing their lives.
Speaking to CBS Miami, a local resident was shocked to see someone had tried to get access to the clothes donation box. “It’s kind of like at the post office when you put a package in, so I can’t imagine anyone being able to get in there. It’s sad that someone was just trying to get some new clothes.”