Identified! CA - Out-of-town family finds unidentified body in freezer of home they were staying at - Dec 23, 2023 - Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones

[Izzylizzy]

"She was married. In addition to her Allied Gardens house, she may have had an interest in a Clairemont home owned by her husband. However, in 2002, she signed away any interest she may have had to him, records show.

The pair ran afoul of the Internal Revenue Service at some point during their partnership, resulting in a $13,000 lien on Haxby-Jones’ Zion Avenue house. That was resolved in 2015, around the time she went missing."

Nobody heard from her for 9 years. Then her body was found in a freezer

In December, Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones' body was found in a chest freezer at a home where she once lived. Police are trying to figure out what happened.

www.latimes.com

 

[whiterhino]

Wow, so much new info!

It sounds like the plot has thickened. For certain, the house and the rough timeline are suspicious.

The artile also said that her body was folded inside the freezer.

Well that is absolutely unnatural

It makes me so sad and angry for Mary as I am very close with an elder relative in my family, I could never imagine going even a week without checking in on them. Also, to think LE had been there for various concerning reasons in the past, it really paints a picture. I'm thinking/hoping LE have some leads to follow up on and people to track down.

 

[Curious Me]

"San Diego officers weren’t strangers to the Zion Avenue home, according to police service call records. Since 2013, police have been called to the house nearly 20 times.....

From the LA Times article it says the quoted info below. So, all those welfare checks mentioned in the other article weren't for Mary? MOO, as far as estrangement goes, I don't find that odd, lots of families lose touch, or have bad relations, but that'd be a perfect way for someone to take over Mary's estate.​

"There have been no arrests, according to Campbell. He said no welfare check had been called in on Haxby-Jones. He declined to answer questions regarding the current resident of the home."​

I think you linked it to the wrong article. The Union Tribune article actually has lots of new info, like you said, that I didn't know about before about all the calls to the house by police. Thank You Everyone for conveying the info. Wish I could see that article, but sometimes newspapers extend so many free reads, and being local I've overextended that limit.

The mysterious life of Mary Haxby-Jones, the woman found dead in an Allied Gardens freezer

The longtime nurse anesthetist and San Diego resident had been missing or dead for nine years when she was found. Police continue to search for anyone who can help unravel the case.

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Nobody heard from her for 9 years. Then her body was found in a freezer

In December, Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones' body was found in a chest freezer at a home where she once lived. Police are trying to figure out what happened.

www.latimes.com

​

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm sure any moment now the Daily Mail will come to the rescue with their version with all the same info and maybe a heap more photos.

 

[azure]

Here's what I think: as of 2013, there were two older adults living in the house, along with one or more younger adults. I'm going to guess that the male older adult was suffering from memory loss or health problems that made him unable to stand up to the younger adult(s). In 2015, MMH-J passed, either from foul play or natural causes. The younger adult(s) placed her in the freezer and continued to collect her benefits. The older adult male continued to be at the mercy of the younger adult(s), who mistreated him, resulting in the welfare checks. This year, family of the older male adult decided to step in and check on him after years of being denied access by the younger adult(s). They found MMH-J in the freezer. Just my speculation based on the latest article.

 

[Cedars]

So, all those welfare checks mentioned in the other article weren't for Mary?

As you note, one article refers to the history of police calls including welfare checks but doesn't include the LE spokesman's comments about no welfare check calls for Mary. And the other article has the police statement, but not the history of calls...

However, I assume that if there'd been any welfare check calls about Mary, police would have realized she was missing.

Police will know from their own records of visits, when she was there and when not.

I wonder who the calls came from: neighbours, husband's family, the home occupant?

A little timeline that emerges about Mary:
-c. 1980 Started working as a nurse for K-P (age 38)
-1986 Bought her house on Zion
- Between 1986-1995 got married, husband a military vet.
- retired 1999

Please indicate any corrections.

JMO

 

[OddOneOut]

Also that Mary had bought the house as a single woman.

So, if Mary was sole owner of the house and she died, everyone else would have had to move?

 

[Cedars]

So, if Mary was sole owner of the house and she died, everyone else would have had to move?

Her estate would be settled according to her will, or if no will, her husband would inherit.

I don't know about the idea of 'everyone else' living there:
"Neighbors told NBC 7 on Thursday that the only person they recall seeing at the home is an older man. They described the man as being in his early 70s, tall and slim, with white hair. "

It seems most likely to me that her husband either was younger than her, or just looks younger.

JMO

 

[whiterhino]

Ok, I am getting confused!

Mary owned that home. An older man who was younger than Mary was seen at the home in recent years. LE have been there multiple times but never for Mary. Don't LE often follow up with homeowners on house calls etc?

This is just far too hinky. Somebody knows something!

 

[iamshadow21]

Ok, I am getting confused!

Mary owned that home. An older man who was younger than Mary was seen at the home in recent years. LE have been there multiple times but never for Mary. Don't LE often follow up with homeowners on house calls etc?

This is just far too hinky. Somebody knows something!

A huge amount of homeowners don't live in the houses they own. That's how there's a rental market. If it was policy to talk to homeowners at every callout, the police force would be even more overtaxed than they already are.

MOO

 

[cherrymeg]

Ok, I am getting confused!

Mary owned that home. An older man who was younger than Mary was seen at the home in recent years. LE have been there multiple times but never for Mary. Don't LE often follow up with homeowners on house calls etc?

This is just far too hinky. Somebody knows something!

I was hoping her husband had some hoarding issues and didn’t want to let her go so he used a freezer. If someone killed her and abused the husband or another elderly person that’s awful.

 

[CuriousCricket]

There was something about possibly owning another house with her husband, which she later signed her interest in to him.
In 2015 when they think she was last seen, they got in trouble with I forget what you call it there, tax department and a lien was put on the Zion street house which was later settled.

Wonder whose retirement funds they dipped into to pay the lien (or was she still working at the time?) and if the incident may have led to her death . . . . wonder who owed the taxes? who paid the lien? where the money came from. And how big was the argument over the situation, if there was one.

 

[CuriousCricket]

So, if Mary was sole owner of the house and she died, everyone else would have had to move?

Plus, if she had 3 sources of retirement income: Social Security, military and hospital any action that changed the set-up would have horribly impacted the daily lives of anyone in the house. Don't you suspect LE has been closely following the money on this one?

Wait. Haven't we had a different address on Mary as well? What if a younger family member moved out and moved the retirement income with them?

Wait

 

[Sjöberg]

I really want to know what happened to Mary. My mental well-being does not really handle elder abuse and very bad domestic abuse cases, so I might have to pull back at some point if it keeps on going the direction it's going.

My gran was one of the best people in my life. My dads gran was one of the best people in his otherwise complicated life. My mums gran was one of the best people of both her and my life. Etc. I know there are bad elderly women out there as well, statistically, but female elder abuse cases make me irrationally furious due to the feelings about these people in my own life.

 

[Laughing]

Ok, I am getting confused!

Mary owned that home. An older man who was younger than Mary was seen at the home in recent years. LE have been there multiple times but never for Mary. Don't LE often follow up with homeowners on house calls etc?

This is just far too hinky. Somebody knows something!

Although this home was not foreclosed, imho, LE and taxing authorities do need to develop a procedure for these situations:

Man finds body of previous homeowner in basement after purchasing house, officials say

Officials in Ohio say a man found a decomposing body in the basement of a home.

www.wsaz.com

'Mummified' body found in garage of foreclosed house

Neighbors thought woman had moved out of the country.

www.usatoday.com

FL - FL - Man Buy Foreclosed House--Finds Body Inside

Longtime Cape Coral resident William Wilson, 61, acquired the worn light pink house on SE 19th Lane at auction Tuesday for $96,000. The house has rusted iron gates on each window and every entrance. He arrived Wednesday morning to evaluate his purchase, trim the hedges and mow the lawn. What...

www.websleuths.com

Identified! - TX - Fort Worth, WhtMale, 57-70, UP93072, Skeletal remains found in master closet of residence, Aug 21 - Gordon Randall Johns

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Date Body Found August 29,2021 Location Found Forth Worth, Texas Estimated Age Range 57-70 years Sex Female Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian Possible First Name Gordon Possible Middle Name Randall Possible Last Name Johns Estimated Age...

www.websleuths.com

Generally older people iirc, this is not an acceptable way to treat humans!

Police in San Diego knew there were problems. In most of the linked cases, taxing agencies & lenders knew there were problems.

But we have these cases....

Shaking my head.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[CuriousCricket]

Wild scenario ahead - proceed with caution.

Let's say a younger household member or close relative was arrested and charged. Everyone wanted that person bailed out while the case worked through the legal system.

Somehow, Mary decided to allow her real estate to stand for the bond, so the arresting agency put a lien on the property. Naturally, the lien was released once the case concluded.

As the case crawled through the system, said arrestee got sick of Mary "harping", nagging, etc and struck Mary. The blow, the fall, the shock -- one or all -- could have caused Mary's death.

THEN, the household has a real problem: Mary's income will stop AND the home will go to Mary's family, not the people (maybe in-laws or steps) living in the house and on her income.

Putting the body in the freezer seems a genius solution. Income and home preserved. It worked for years. When younger family member moves, Mary's address on her bank account and other official accounts is simply changed to the younger family member's.

Life flows along. Mary remains on Zion Avenue while officially Mary's money is going to another address. The story told on Zion Avenue is that Mary moved in with whoever the younger family member is. Story by younger family member is he/she just matured and naturally moved out. There's no reason family would suspect younger family member is secretly receiving funds from a dead Mary.

Then, family decides to visit the person on Zion Avenue and discovers the grim reality.

 

[Cedars]

A random thought with regards to the call outs: IMO police identify calls according to the allegation in the complaint, but that does not mean they found the complaint to be true.

For example, a retired person could get into a disagreement with a neighbour, and call police complaining they are a senior and being bullied, and police might investigate it as 'elder abuse', but not charge anyone (as seems the case here, otherwise wouldn't the news media have found records of that?)

JMO

 

[rosesfromangels]

Graphic alert - discussing handling of corpse.

As I was thinking of this case, I reread a few posts and the phrase "body was folded" jumped out and me, and immediately sickened me. Even for a frail elderly person, it takes great effort to break bones, which would have had to have happened to "fold" the corpse. Truly disturbing, if this wasn't already disturbing enough.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Laughing]

Graphic alert - discussing handling of corpse.

As I was thinking of this case, I reread a few posts and the phrase "body was folded" jumped out and me, and immediately sickened me. Even for a frail elderly person, it takes great effort to break bones, which would have had to have happened to "fold" the corpse. Truly disturbing, if this wasn't already disturbing enough.

Amateur opinion and speculation

Maybe I'm just too delicate a flower to consider that, but I am sticking with using normal human joints for "folding." Quickly Googled sketch of Magicians' lovely assistant in a box, prior to being "sawn in half" and re-assembled:


image from India Times.

jmho of course! ymmv lrr

 

[Curious Me]

Just for general info on the property.

According to Trulia:

Spoiler: Trulia Link if needed

4914 Zion Ave, San Diego, CA 92120 | Trulia

Trulia Estimate $849,200
as of Jan 14, 2024
Est. Refi. Payment $5,082/mo.*

This property is not currently for sale or for rent on Trulia. The description and property data below may have been provided by a third party, the homeowner or public records.

This single-family home is located at 4914 Zion Ave, San Diego, CA. 4914 Zion Ave is in the Allied Gardens neighborhood in San Diego, CA and in ZIP code 92120. This property has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and approximately 1,349 sqft of floor space. This property has a lot size of 6000 sqft and was built in 1957.​