SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Police Department says an autopsy report for a woman whose body was found in a chest freezer in Allied Gardens a few days before Christmas Eve in 2023 concluded "the manner and cause of death are undetermined."
The body was identified as Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones in Jan. 2024, and SDPD detectives determined at the time she may have been missing or dead for up to nine years. They also learned she had been living at the house on Zion Avenue before her death.
Out-of-town family members were the ones who found her body at the home in the 4900 block of Zion Ave. on Dec. 22, 2023, and reported it to the police.
SDPD's press release from Thursday says its homicide unit received the inconclusive autopsy report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office on Dec. 11, 2024, after a "comprehensive investigation" into how Haxby-Jones died. In Jan. 2024, police told ABC 10News there was "no obvious" traumatic injury to the body.
While the medical examiner looked into the cause of death, homicide detectives looked into a possible financial motive. Investigators reached out to financial investigators for Social Security and Veterans Affairs programs since they suspected Haxby-Jones' death may have been concealed so her benefits would continue to be paid out.
SDPD said because it is unclear "beyond a reasonable doubt" when Haxby-Jones died, a criminal case of benefits fraud couldn't be established.
The department said detectives came to the conclusion that Haxby-Jones' husband, Robert Haxby, "unlawfully placed" her body in the freezer.
"This determination was made considering all of the facts gathered during the investigation, including interviews related to this case," the press release said.
SDPD said Robert Haxby died on Feb. 3, 2024. If she were alive at the time her body was discovered, Haxby-Jones would've been 81 years old.
Due to the conclusion by the medical examiner and the detectives' investigative work, SDPD said the suspicious death investigation is now inactive, pending any additional or new information brought to its attention.
If you have any information about this case for police, you can reach out to the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
