Retired Los Angeles Homicide Detective Found Dead In Freezer

LOS ANGELES, CA — A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detective's body was found inside a freezer in the garage of the Riverside home she shared with her daughter Sunday, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Miriam E. Travis, 87, was a 27- year employee of the agency, retiring in 1990 as a detective sergeant. She worked in the department's Homicide Bureau for 11 years.

"Our hearts are broken by this news and the entire LASD family mourns her loss," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement Tuesday.

Travis' death remains under investigation. The discovery of her body did not immediately lead to an arrest, and authorities have not said whether foul play was suspected.

Riverside police were called to the home in the 6000 block of New Ridge Drive about 9:35 a.m. Sunday to conduct a welfare check. Travis' out-of-state relatives had called because they had not heard from her in months, said Riverside police Officer Javier Cabrera.

Officers interviewed the woman's daughter, identified by The Press- Enterprise only as Carol, and noted some inconsistencies in her statements, Cabrera said. They subsequently found the body in a freezer in the garage of the residence, Cabrera said.

Though questioned, Travis' daughter was not arrested. She was released pending further investigation, Cabrera said.

An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of 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.

“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.

Authorities told the paper the house was disheveled, with piles of trash inside and hoarding conditions, accompanied by a foul odor.

City News Service, the Associated Press and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.