A grim holiday discovery has left the San Diego Allied Gardens community reeling. On December 22, 2023, visiting family members unearthed the frozen remains of an elderly woman inside a chest freezer at a residence on Zion Avenue. The deceased was later identified by San Diego Police as Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones, an 81-year-old white female, believed to have been demised for as long as nine years.

Officials released a statement by the City of San Diego Police Department, revealing that the cause and manner of Haxby-Jones's death could not be determined even after a comprehensive autopsy by the Medical Examiner. Detectives speculated that Haxby-Jones had been missing or dead for up to a decade and probed into potential benefits fraud, given suspicions that the death may have been concealed to continue benefit payments. The investigation hit a standstill as it was unclear precisely when Haxby-Jones had passed away, making a criminal case difficult to substantiate.

The chilling situation has prompted concern among local residents. "Wow. That's definitely concerning," neighborhood resident Austin Cowdrey told NBC News via Hoodline. He added that the neighborhood, already equipped with security cameras, would now see an uptick in vigilance. Officers from the San Diego Police Department's Eastern Division, who were summoned to the scene initially, have handed the case over to their Homicide Unit for further investigation.

Detectives discovered that Haxby-Jones’s husband, Robert Haxby, who died in February 2024, had unlawfully placed Haxby-Jones’s body in the freezer. Despite this revelation, the lack of additional evidence has left authorities at a crossroads, declaring the suspicious death investigation inactive, pending any new information. The San Diego Police Department encourages anyone with knowledge concerning this incident to contact the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.