Man found dead in chest freezer was hiding from cops when he inadvertently locked himself inside appliance ‘not capable of being pushed open from inside’: Police

Brandon Lee Buschman

A 34-year-old Minnesota man who was found dead in a chest freezer late last month actually went into the large appliance on his own accord while trying to hide from police executing an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The victim found in the freezer was identified by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office as Brandon Lee Buschman, authorities announced.

According to a press release from the Gilbert Police Department, GPD officers at around 3:30 p.m. on June 26 responded to a 911 call regarding the discovery of a deceased adult male at a residence located in the 300 block of 4th Avenue North, which is about 200 miles north of Minneapolis. The caller said that they found the man’s body inside a chest freezer at the home.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders quickly located the body of the man — later identified as Buschman — inside of the freezer, which they said was located in the basement of the home. During the investigation, detectives said they learned that the appliance was “an older model” which had its latching mechanism on the outside of the freezer.

“When closed, the freezer is not capable of being pushed open from inside,” the release states. “The freezer was not on at the time of the discovery as there have been no utilities connected at the residence since April of 2022.”

Investigators looking into the circumstances of Buschman’s death conducted multiple interviews with his family and friends. From those interviews, police say they learned that Buschman had last been seen alive by others in the home when he was “fleeing from the upstairs area of the house due to a possible police presence near the residence.” He was supposedly fleeing because of an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

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