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

[CuriousCricket]

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

I can see "folded at the waist" and perhaps tied into that half position. Still horrible beyond thinking about.

 

[OddOneOut]

I can see "folded at the waist" and perhaps tied into that half position. Still horrible beyond thinking about.

I keep thinking about someone curled (folded) up in a fetal position.

 

[Curious Me]

Seems some here are fascinated with the body being folded to be placed in the freezer.

Warning graphic thoughts on bodies in and out of freezers.

MOO, what is a much worse thought has been in the news pertaining to funeral homes that fell behind financially and let the many bodies pile up.

A freezer, realistically, when you think about it, we may all end up in a freezer, a mortuary cooler or morgue freezer, for a short time before burial or cremation. My friend is donating her body to a medical school to practice on. It's like we leave our bodies behind and we're not in there anymore. RIP MARY. ​

 

[ConcernedVA]

When people get older, many of us tend to think of them as our sweet old gran or gramps. But the elderly are still the same regular people they were when they were younger. They can get irritable, unpleasant, childish, or mean just like anyone else. But if they are alone with the wrong person and they push that person's buttons, bad things can happen. I'm not saying it's the elder's fault. It's very much like child abuse and it happens more than we'd like to think.

But of course, we still don't know what happened here, so I'm just speculating.

 

[Charlot123]

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.

I wonder how anyone not related to Mary and living on Zion avenue would allow a family to stay in the house knowing that there is a body in a freezer. Is he getting demented and forgetful? Or, did he have no clue?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

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.*
View attachment 474701

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.​

In the beginning of this case, i had thought this could be the goal of multiple people.... to GET this house.
Even the "out of state visitors", would be a possibility.
Knowing a relative, even if a distant relative, was living in this valuable piece of real estate can be a motivator for anyone, I would think.
The out of staters might just have come to help their elderly relative figure things out.... maybe they got a clue or two from the elderly relative, that things were a amiss in San Diego.

But now, with what we know.... I bet Mary's distant "loving" relatives are making a show in San Diego as well.

all imo... but as mentioned, it was my very first thought when I heard about the case.
its always the $$$.

 

[CuriousCricket]

When people get older, many of us tend to think of them as our sweet old gran or gramps. But the elderly are still the same regular people they were when they were younger. They can get irritable, unpleasant, childish, or mean just like anyone else. But if they are alone with the wrong person and they push that person's buttons, bad things can happen. I'm not saying it's the elder's fault. It's very much like child abuse and it happens more than we'd like to think.

But of course, we still don't know what happened here, so I'm just speculating.

At my age, I can tell you that not only are we the same people we've always been, we're More So as we're more strongly inclined in whichever direction it was. Our filters sometimes disappear completely and we become more concentrated versions of the younger us. A sweet, kind person becomes sweeter and kinder (except with Alzheimers which sometimes flips personalities {according to what I've seen}), and a nasty grouch becomes nastier and grouchier and more difficult to live with; an ego becomes bigger and bossier .

 

[CuriousCricket]

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

Prob. Or if any resident was her closest blood kin OR she had left a will leaving the home to an occupant -- the person inheriting could likely have stayed, but if the occupants are the divorced husband and perhaps his family, then yep, for the settlement of the estate, some people seem to have had a lot to lose.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Here’s an interesting tidbit. The property tax bill of $1238.09 for 4914 Zion Ave, due in November and delinquent in December, so $1361.89 with late fees, has not been paid.

So whoever had been paying Mary’s property tax bills all these years didn’t pay this one yet. Why? Another question for this puzzler.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

In the beginning of this case, i had thought this could be the goal of multiple people.... to GET this house.
Even the "out of state visitors", would be a possibility.
Knowing a relative, even if a distant relative, was living in this valuable piece of real estate can be a motivator for anyone, I would think.
The out of staters might just have come to help their elderly relative figure things out.... maybe they got a clue or two from the elderly relative, that things were a amiss in San Diego.

But now, with what we know.... I bet Mary's distant "loving" relatives are making a show in San Diego as well.

all imo... but as mentioned, it was my very first thought when I heard about the case.
its always the $$$.

Yes, $$$, but it’s not just the house. Sounds like two pensions and social security too.

 

[CuriousCricket]

Here’s an interesting tidbit. The property tax bill of $1238.09 for 4914 Zion Ave, due in November and delinquent in December, so $1361.89 with late fees, has not been paid.

So whoever had been paying Mary’s property tax bills all these years didn’t pay this one yet. Why? Another question for this puzzler.

View attachment 474870

Wonder if this was the red flag that brought the out-of-towners to visit? Possibly an alternate/ backup address had been added with the tax office? Once it hit the delinquent list and reminders were sent, the out-of-town backup person was alerted? Wonder if that's possible?

 

[CuriousCricket]

Yes, $$$, but it’s not just the house. Sounds like two pensions and social security too.

Since Mary had no children, nor a spouse, then her relatives would inherit the house but only people occupying the house with her would have any interest in keeping the pension moneys arriving.

 

[charminglane]

Could the older man be in assisted living and all of Mary's benefit checks are forwarded for his care?
He dies.
House is unoccupied.
Family comes to town.
Body found.
?

 

[Ninety5rpm]

The fact that the property tax bill in Mary’s name was still being delivered to 4914 Zion Ave, not to mention the freezer contents, demonstrates whoever was living there and picking up the mail and paying her bills was at least in on, if not solely responsible for, the cover-up of her death and associated fraud.

What I can’t reconcile are all the police calls over the years (20 since 2013) with neighbors reporting only being aware of a single resident (older man). Who was making these calls? Welfare check calls suggest a concerned friend or relative is asking police to check on someone living alone. Okay. But what about elder abuse allegations? Who could be making those calls?

 

[Cedars]

Seems some here are fascinated with the body being folded to be placed in the freezer.

Warning graphic thoughts on bodies in and out of freezers. View attachment 474781

MOO, what is a much worse thought has been in the news pertaining to funeral homes that fell behind financially and let the many bodies pile up.

A freezer, realistically, when you think about it, we may all end up in a freezer, a mortuary cooler or morgue freezer, for a short time before burial or cremation. My friend is donating her body to a medical school to practice on. It's like we leave our bodies behind and we're not in there anymore. RIP MARY. ​

I agree. I am careful to always refer to a dead body as the 'remains', to remind myself the person who occupied that body has departed and left it behind, like a a suit of clothes. If left to nature, it will decay back into earth. Ashes to ashes.

If someone's remains are sent to autopsy, the pathologist will do many things that might be considered distressing, if we imagine the person was still alive and in their body.

JMO

 

[azure]

What I can’t reconcile are all the police calls over the years (20 since 2013) with neighbors reporting only being aware of a single resident (older man). Who was making these calls? Welfare check calls suggest a concerned friend or relative is asking police to check on someone living alone. Okay. But what about elder abuse allegations? Who could be making those calls?

Right! Unless the person living there is seriously delusional, they're not going to call the police for elder abuse when they're the only living person in the house.

Although it's wild that anyone would call the police who knows there's a dead woman in the freezer, so not sure what that suggests. Multiple parties, some of whom don't know?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

The fact that the property tax bill in Mary’s name was still being delivered to 4914 Zion Ave, not to mention the freezer contents, demonstrates whoever was living there and picking up the mail and paying her bills was at least in on, if not solely responsible for, the cover-up of her death and associated fraud.

What I can’t reconcile are all the police calls over the years (20 since 2013) with neighbors reporting only being aware of a single resident (older man). Who was making these calls? Welfare check calls suggest a concerned friend or relative is asking police to check on someone living alone. Okay. But what about elder abuse allegations? Who could be making those calls?

Do we have the dates of the elder abuse calls? Maybe...someone else was living there at some point. The neighbors actually knew so little about anything or anyone. "man with white hair"? Lived there for many years, but no one knew his name?

 

[Megnut]

If the homeowner/squatter/overstating guest wasn't being forthcoming with his own family, they may have had an impression thst wasn't accurate and assuming they're remote, perhaps they were being sold some stories, all in an attempt to keep them at arm's length? I mean, look what happens when they show up.

Maybe, over the years, they called in some of those concerns, sight unseen, believing they had accurate information.

I would have to imagine whoever helped Mary into the freezer was not likely encouraging visits from family.

JMO

 

[Tired Professor]

If someone's remains are sent to autopsy, the pathologist will do many things that might be considered distressing, if we imagine the person was still alive and in their body.

I had a coroner as guest speaker in one of my classes. They described in detail what takes place during an autopsy. It is surprising how thorough it really is! Definitely not for the faint of heart though…

 

[whiterhino]

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

Except some of the calls were made right around and possibly after Mary was deceased and as it's been stated, no one has officially seen Mary since approx 2009. Some of those calls were made in 2014 and 2015. So, who were the calls made for/about? Why didn't anyone speak to Mary, who is the homeowner of the residence that the calls were in reference? I feel that something would have been revealed much sooner than now if that had been done. JMO.