Body of retired California sheriff's detective found in freezer
Investigators probe cause of death in Riverside
An investigation is underway after the body of a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective was discovered in a freezer in the garage of a Riverside, California, home.
The body of retired Detective Sgt. Miriam E. Travis, 87, was discovered Sunday after a concerned family member called police after not hearing from her for two months.
Police went to the home in the Sycamore Canyon area and spoke with the woman’s 64-year-old daughter who lived with her. The daughter gave inconsistent statements about the whereabouts of her mother, said Officer Javier Cabrera of the Riverside Police Department.
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A search of the home resulted in officers finding the body in a freezer in the garage. Autopsy results are now pending to determine cause of death, according to police.
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A statement from LASD said Travis devoted 27 years of faithful service to the residents of Los Angeles County from 1963 until her retirement in 1990.
"Our hearts are broken by this news and the entire LASD family mourns her loss," Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated.
Police said the daughter was not in custody, and the Riverside Police Department was investigating the circumstances surrounding Travis’ death.
Travis’ husband died in 1992, after which she suddenly changed the locks on the house and cut off contact with her extended family, said a relative, Kerri Nickell of Oklahoma.
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"It was like this is my grandmother one day, and then we never heard from her again," Nickell told the Press-Enterprise. She described Travis and her daughter as "kind of hermits."
Cedric Valentin, 63, a landscaper who said he knew Travis, said he last saw her alive four months ago, the paper reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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