The woman found in a San Diego freezer last month may have been missing or dead for up to nine years, cops have claimed in a sensational statement.
Police in California discovered the body after “out-of-town” family members came to visit the home, NBC News said.
Since the discovery last month, police have now formally identified the woman as Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones, an 81-year-old woman.
So far the cause of her death has not been determined. Officers say there was “no obvious traumatic injury to the body”.
However in an update, cops said the woman’s death was being treated as “suspicious”.
According to the San Diego police homicide unit, it was called in to investigate the unusual location of the body – inside a freezer.
In a statement, cops continued: “Based on the investigation to this point, detectives believe it is possible that Ms Haxby-Jones may have been missing or dead for up to nine years.”
It added that as no missing person’s report had been filed it was liked that she lived in the property she was found in “at some point prior to the discovery of her body”.
In December, cops revealed that family members had called the authorities after finding the body in the freezer at an address on Zion Avenue.
The family members, not a relation to Ms Haxby-Jones, had been visiting someone who currently lived in the property.
It emerged that Ms Haxby-Jones’ body had been found on December 23, and soon after its discovery the homicide unit began its investigations.
At the time, neighbour Ana Marie Mierau told ABC San Diego: “It’s very surprising and scary and give me the chills because I’ve never heard something like this.”
Fellow neighbour, Teresa Morrison, added: ”I started seeing the police everywhere, and I’m like: ‘That is something big.’
“This is a very safe area. We have a school across the street. We never heard about any violence or anything.”
