A woman has been found dead in a walk-in freezer at a large hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

Co-workers made the discovery at the Westin Peachtree Plaza on Tuesday morning, according to local media reports.

Lt Charles Hampton, from Atlanta Police Department, said the alert was raised after the woman, a kitchen worker at the hotel, failed to return home after her shift.

Police say there is evidence she had tried to escape the freezer, but have not elaborated on what that evidence might be.

It remains unclear whether a mechanism to get out of the freezer was broken, Lt Hampton said.

Colleagues have told local media the woman had worked at the hotel for more than 30 years.

"Everybody in the hotel loved her. She was a very kind lady," Fox 5 Atlanta quoted one colleague as saying.

(Sky News)