BODY OF ELDERLY WOMAN FOUND IN FREEZER AT ALLIED GARDENS HOME WAS FORMER KAISER WORKER

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via ECM news partner 10 News

January 5, 2024 (San Diego) – The body of an elderly woman found Dec. 22 in a chest freezer at an Allied Gardens home has been identified as Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones, who formerly lived there. According to Lt. Jud Campbell with San Diego Police, she may have been missing or  dead for as long as nine years and would have been 81 years old if she had survived.

She formerly worked at Kaiser Permanente. The hospital released this statement:  “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mary Margaret Haxby-Jones and want to express our sincerest condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones. Mary Margaret will be remembered as a dedicated health care professional and will be greatly missed by all of us at Kaiser Permanente that had the privilege to work alongside her."

Her frozen remains were found by  out-of-town family members related to a current resident of the home. The family members promptly notified police. The home’s owner is currently listed as Mary M. Jones, according to county records. In 1986, Joseph and Amparo Lucerno gave the home to Jones and to Robert Haxby.  But in 1992, The deed was changed to list only Jones, presumably the deceased woman.

The website Veripages lists Robert Haxby’s address as 4914 Zion Ave., San Diego.

NBC 7 reports that no missing persons report was ever filed on Haxby-Jones. The station interviewed neighbors; none recalled seeing a woman at the residence, though two remembered seeing an older man there, described as tall and slim with white hair. 

However 10 News interviewed one neighbor who did remember greeting the woman as “Mary”, though she could not recall when she last saw Haxby-Jones. Scripps News San Diego, owner of 10 News, contacted a relative of Haxby-Jones and was told the family wanted privacy and wouldn't be releasing any statement.

San Diego Police homicide detectives are investigating the death as suspicious, though Lt. Campbell states, “No obvious traumatic injury to the body was noted.” 

Anyone with relevant information or who may have known Haxby-Jones is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.