OCT 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 10.1

87-year-old Riverside

87-year-old Riverside woman found dead in freezer at home is former LA County Sheriff’s Detective. By Ruby Gonzales RIVERSIDE, CA. —The mystery that was Miriam Travis’ life after she retired as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detective and moved to Riverside more than 30 years ago now extends to her death. Travis, 87, was found dead Sunday, September 19, in a freezer in the garage of the home where she had lived since 1990. Her live-in daughter, identified by neighbors only as Carol, was questioned and released while detectives attempted to learn how Travis died and what role, if any, her daughter played in either her demise or the handling of her body. Both mother and daughter were noted for being obsessively private. “Shocking. Very shocking. Especially because she’s little old sweet Miriam,” said Randy Hayes, 63, who has lived next door to the Travis home on New Ridge Drive next to Sycamore Canyon Park for 27 years. A relative of Travis, Kerri Nickell of Oklahoma, identified Travis in a phone interview Monday. The Riverside County Coroner’s Office was not officially announcing the dead woman’s name Monday, a spokesman said. Deputy Maria Lucero, an LA County sheriff’s spokeswoman, said Travis was a sergeant at the homicide bureau from 1979 until she retired in 1990. Another relative had called police Sunday, asking officers to check on the woman, said Officer Javier Cabrera, a Riverside police spokesman. Officers went to the home in the Mission Grove neighborhood at about 9:35 a.m. They questioned the daughter, whose statements on the whereabouts of Travis were inconsistent, Cabrera said. Officers searched the house, which Cabrera described as “disheveled,” with hoarding-like conditions and trash piled high. There was a foul odor, and officers eventually discovered Travis in a working freezer in the garage. Her body had not decomposed, Cabrera said. An autopsy is planned. Nickell, who said she was Travis’ step-granddaughter, said Travis and her husband moved to the Riverside home in 1990 after her retirement. Travis was a “great grandmother,” Nickell said, taking Nickell and her 11 cousins to Disneyland every year at Christmas. Travis’ husband died in 1992, and suddenly Travis changed the locks on the house and cut off contact with extended family, Nickell said. “It was like this is my grandmother one day, and then we never heard from her again,” said Nickell, who described Travis and the daughter as “kind of hermits.” A cousin would sometimes mail pictures of relatives on her side of the family to Travis, but there was never any response. Hayes said that despite being decades-long neighbors, he knew little about Travis and her daughter, such as whether they ever traveled or had any hobbies. “I cannot overstate enough how reclusive they were,” he said. Hayes rarely saw service vehicles come to the house except for deliveries by Home Depot. Storage units dotted the backyard and changes to the property drew the interest of city code enforcement, he said. A wide, wooden gate was erected to the left of the garage and behind it, a tarp could be seen Monday. An awning, storage unit and individual cinder blocks, some still shrink-wrapped, filled part of the driveway. There was no discernible path to the front door, which was not visible from the street, and the windows on the two-story, 2,650-square-foot-home were covered. Hayes would have brief conversations with Travis over the years, ones that became less and less frequent. Travis, if she left the house, would work in the garden out front or quickly get in a car and leave. Travis appeared to be in failing health, Hayes said. She was stooped and was moving slower and slower. Hayes said he last saw Travis in November. Cedric Valentin, 63, who landscaped Hayes’ home, said he would stop to talk with Travis as well. He last saw her four months ago. About a month ago, he saw Carol out in front of the house. “I asked Carol, ‘Where’s Miriam?’ She said, ‘She’s in the house.’ I didn’t think anything of it. … It’s sad. Especially because she’s little, sweet Miriam. She’s in my heart, you know?” Valentin said. Help us reach our goal of 100,000 subscribers. It’s FREE. Just CLICK 42 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 43