A body found in a California freezer is that of a woman who may have been missing or dead for nine years, according to police.
The woman, who has now been identified as 81-year-old Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones, was discovered in the freezer by people visiting a home in San Diego last month.
Investigators say that the freezer was still running when the body was found.
The “out of town” family members are related to someone who currently lives in the house, and not the woman found in the appliance.
Police say that the department’s homicide unit was called in because of the unusual location of the body.
“Based on the investigation to this point, detectives believe it is possible that Haxby-Jones may have been missing or dead for up to nine years,” police said.
No missing person’s report was ever filed for Haxby-Jones and investigators say she lived at the home “at some point prior to the discovery of her body.”
A cause of death has not yet been announced by the medical examiner’s office and police say that “no obvious traumatic injury to the body was noted.”
Detectives are continuing to investigate it as a “suspicious death” and have asked anyone who knew Haxby-Jones to contact them.
