Anyhow, after disposing of all the food I began inspecting the freezer and figured it couldn't be more than five years old. There was ice buildup in the front center of the freezer where I suspect the baskets the owner was using to help organize the contents had allowed for a poor seal thus allowing moist air into the freezer which froze and I suspect eventually cracking the door even more thus letting more warm air into the freezer which thawed the contents. On a hunch, I didn't dump the freezer but instead cleaned it well and plugged it in to test it. I heard the compressor kick on so that gave me some assurance. Now, three weeks later, its still holding subzero temperatures so it looks like this was a win/win deal and we both got new freezers.
One man's junk is another man's treasure. This is so true as most of my processing equipment is "junk".

Best watch those baskets in deep freezers.