Body of former homicide detective, 87, found inside freezer at her California home, police say

An 87-year-old female ex-homicide detective’s body was found in a freezer in the garage of the California home she shared with her caregiver daughter, police said.

On Sept. 19, the Riverside Police Department received a call from an out-of-state relative of Miriam Travis requesting a wellbeing check, and officers went to the elderly woman’s home around 9:35 a.m.

At the residence, Travis’ daughter gave inconsistent statements to officers about where her mother was, according to Officer Javier Cabrera, a police spokesman.

Cops who searched the home noted it was “disheveled” and had a bad odor, Cabrera said. As the search continued in the residence — described as having hoarding-like conditions — officers found Travis’ body in a stand-up freezer in the garage.

Travis’ daughter, who has not been identified, was detained and later released as cops continue to investigate the case and wait for results from an autopsy to determine Travis’ cause of death.

Travis’ step-granddaughter, Kerri Nickell, said the deceased senior citizen and the daughter were “different people” and “kind of hermits,” according to the Southern California News Group.

The daughter, Nickell said, “was always quiet” when she met her long ago.

A neighbor of the mother and daughter was surprised about the grisly discovery involving the women he said kept to themselves. “I mean, it doesn’t look good putting a body in a freezer,” Randy Hayes told KTLA.