GoFundMe for woman found dead in Walmart oven paused as donations soar past $200K

globalnews.ca:

The GoFundMe set up for the family of a young woman who was found dead inside of a walk-in oven at a Walmart in Halifax have paused donations after the amount quadrupled from the original ask.

The goal for the GoFundMe campaign was $50,000, and as of Friday, it reached just shy of $200,000 soaring to $194,949, before being turned off.

The Maritime Sikh Society Executive, the organizer for the GoFundMe, turned off donations “as we begin the process of distributing the funds to the family.”

The fundraiser was set up to provide financial support to the family of 19-year-old Gursimran Kaur, identified by the society with the permission from her mother. The funds would cover funeral costs and bring home Kaur’s relatives such as her father and brother who live in India.

“We want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who has donated to support Gursimran Kaur’s family during this unimaginable time,” an organizer wrote on the page. “Your contributions will help them in their next steps, and we cannot thank you enough for standing with them during this painful period.”

The updated noted that the original goal had been reached in just 10 hours.

Both mother and daughter are a part of the Sikh community and had been working at the Walmart store on Mumford Road in west-end Halifax for about two years.

It was her mother, according to the society, who found Kaur inside the store’s bakery department while the store was still open on the night of Oct. 19. Halifax Regional Police have confirmed the victim’s body was found in a walk-in oven.

Halifax Regional Police have remained tight-lipped on the details surrounding how it happened and have not released much information from the investigation.

When asked on Friday if police would