‘It has crossed my mind more than once’: Walmart death inspires true crime fans to play detective, and they think they know who did it

The saga of Gursimran Kaur, the 19-year-old Walmart employee who was found dead in a walk-in oven at a Walmart in Halifax, continues. When the police first took over the case, they asked the general public for one thing only — be patient and let them work on it. But it was obvious to everyone interested that this was the exact opposite of what would actually happen.

The latest theory comes from TikTok user @calebcooks94, who proposed an idea so outrageous that he was practically anticipating backlash even before he shared his actual theory. The TikTok user’s theory is that perhaps Kaur’s mother had something to do with it. His reasoning is that, in all the true crime mysteries he’s been exposed to over the years, more often than not, the people who committed the crime are somehow involved or know more than they initially let on.

This might come off as initially outrageous and disrespectful to the bereaved family, but we have to partially side with calebcooks94. This is an actual term in criminology called the rule of proximity. In this phenomenon, the people closest to a crime, either physically or emotionally, tend to be more likely to have committed the crime. In most criminal cases like this, where the more details you learn, the more questions you get instead of answers, the authorities invoke this rule and start by investigating the people closest to the victim especially when the victim is a woman. Movie directors and producers often draw inspiration from this, making it their final twist. So it’s not a surprise that the TikTok user said, “this [idea] has crossed my mind more than once.”

For those following this sad case from Halifax, here’s a quick refresher: A 19-year-old employee was found dead in a walk-in oven at a Walmart. The first assumption by the public was that she accidentally locked herself in the oven. However, TikTok users who also work at a Walmart with a walk-in oven were quick to debunk that rumor — practically showing people how impossible it is, as the door can be unlatched from the inside. Furthermore, the debunkers also showed how unlikely it is for someone to even walk into the oven for an extended amount of time in the first place.

This latest theory that the mother might have something to do with it stems from the fact that Kaur and her mother both worked at that same Walmart, and it was the mother who alerted coworkers that Kaur had been missing for more than an hour.

As of this moment, there are still no further developments from the actual police, so people online continue using this case as a true crime mystery they can solve. The family, for its part, is more concerned about giving Kaur a proper send-off and has opened a GoFundMe page to help with that, along with flying in Kaur’s brother and father from India. The police are certainly considering all options — and clearly, so is TikTok — so as the information and reactions keep trickling in, we’ll ensure to keep everyone posted.