Who murdered 92-year-old Mama Hubcap?

BALTIMORE COUNTY — Margaret Estelle Jones was the longtime matriarch of her family.

She had been living in her Baltimore County home since 1916, according to a handwritten deed in county land records. At that time, the location had no street address.

In 1982, she was on the first block of North Point Blvd., a busy street where hubcaps would roll into her yard. She collected them, earning the nickname “Mama Hubcap.”

WMAR-2 news archive

Police responded before 9 a.m. on May 15, 1982, to that first block of North Point Blvd., where Jones had lived for more than 60 years.

The caller, Jones’ son, came every day to check on his mother.

He found her lying on the floor of her bedroom. He told police he thought she had a heart attack.

WMAR-2 news archive

Police found evidence of a brutal murder.

Police told a WMAR-2 News reporter who was covering the case at the time that the woman had been beaten and strangled, and police suspect a sexual assault had occurred.

Unsolved Case: Mama Hubcap

“Probably the most devastating thing we discovered was that she had a broken spine,” a Baltimore County police spokesman told a reporter in 1982.

WMAR-2 news archive

They hoped someone might have seen something from the road that day, a car parked in the driveway or driving away, but the case has still not been solved.

If you have information that could help detectives solve the murder of Margaret Estelle Jones, submit an anonymous tip through Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP.

You can also call the Baltimore County Unsolved Cases Division at 410-887-3943.