[10] On October 18, 2017, the Caldwell, Idaho, police department confirmed that Hixon was the subject of a criminal investigation.

[11] On October 19, 2017, Hixon submitted his letter of resignation via email to House Speaker Scott Bedke and Governor Butch Otter,[12] effective immediately.

[13] On October 26, 2017, the Caldwell Police Department turned the criminal investigation over to the Idaho Attorney General's Office.

[15][16] In January 2018, an article in the Idaho Statesman cited police records indicating Hixon was suspected of repeated and protracted sexual abuse of two minor females, one of them a relative.

On January 9, 2018, a family member found Hixon dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at his home in Caldwell, Idaho.