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

Donations for the GoFundMe campaign supporting the family of a young woman found dead in a walk-in oven at a Halifax Walmart have been paused after surpassing the initial goal by four times.

The campaign initially aimed to raise $50,000 but reached $194,949 by Friday before donations were turned off. The Maritime Sikh Society Executive, which organized the fundraiser, halted contributions "as we begin the process of distributing the funds to the family."

The fundraiser was launched to assist the family of 19-year-old Gursimran Kaur, whose identity was shared with permission from her mother. The funds will cover funeral expenses and help bring Kaur’s father and brother from India to Canada.

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

They also noted that the initial fundraising goal was reached within just 10 hours.

Kaur and her mother, both members of the Sikh community, had worked at the Mumford Road Walmart in west-end Halifax for about two years. According to the Maritime Sikh Society, it was Kaur's mother who discovered her daughter’s body inside the store’s bakery section while it was still open on the evening of October 19.

Halifax Regional Police have confirmed that Kaur’s body was found inside a walk-in oven but have released few details about the incident. When asked on Friday, nearly six days after her death, a police spokesperson said, “we do not have any updates to provide at this time.”

The cause of death remains under investigation by Nova Scotia’s medical examiner, with no official findings yet released.

Walk-in ovens, also called cabinet or batch ovens, are used for tasks such as curing, baking, or drying in batches, typically with wheeled racks or carts. They are common in large-scale bakeries found in supermarkets and big-box stores.

The Walmart store remains closed to the public, with no announced reopening date. A Walmart Canada spokesperson said that employees with scheduled shifts during the closure will be paid and that alternate work arrangements may be considered if the store stays closed longer than expected.

According to the Maritime Sikh Society, Kaur and her mother had moved to Canada from the U.K. within the past three years, and the family originally hails from India.