Alexis Sharkey death: Cops trawl CCTV footage for clues as experts wonder how her body had no visible injuries
Alexis Robinault Sharkey, a 26-year-old Instagram influencer, was discovered dead in a ditch on Saturday morning, November 28. Her death has puzzled investigators who are attempting to determine the circumstances surrounding her demise. Sharkey's naked body was discovered by a garbage truck worker in Houston, Texas, early in the morning, and police have revealed since then that she had no injuries on her.
Houston authorities are now pinning their hopes on surveillance video in the area where Sharkey's body was found — a sparsely populated road off I-10 in west Houston. Police have reportedly zeroed in on a surveillance camera from a beauty salon facing the roadway where the influencer was discovered. Sharkey's friends are hoping that the video may be able to shed some light on how she ended up in the ditch along Red Haw Lane with no external signs of injury.
The late 26-year-old was popular on Instagram and made her career sharing every detail of her skincare routine, and the products she used. She even shared about her personal life on social media, with one of her recent pictures showing her and her husband Tom in Halloween costumes this year. Retired police forensics expert, Jennifer Shen, said that it is likely that police will comb through her online presence, which also includes her followers.
"Always the suspicion falls upon those that she has interaction with and knows," Shen told Fox 26. “Oftentimes they look at the husband first, so I think it’s going to be a really difficult time for the family." One of Sharkey's close friends, Chelsea Turnbow, told the outlet that the moment she learned something was wrong was on Friday night, November 27. She said: "Tom, which is her husband, texted my boyfriend. 11 p.m. is when my boyfriend John called Tom and said, What’s going on, Tom? And he said, 'Me and Lex got into an argument, and she left. I don’t know where she went. Can you just please let me know if you know anything.'" Sharkey's body was found hours later at about 8:30 AM nearly four minutes away from her apartment. "We need to get the word spread that someone killed her, and we need answers,” said Turnbow.
Police are not calling Sharkey's death a murder yet, however, they have not ruled out foul play in the case either and are awaiting the results of an autopsy to give an insight on the cause of her death.
Ally Cale, who worked with Sharkey as a product influencer, revealed that the 26-year-old had decided to divorce her husband nearly a month ago. The couple had been married for nearly a year. Turnbow also commented on their marital relationship, saying: "All I’m gonna say is: they’re going through a divorce for a reason."
Tom, on Sunday, November 29, wrote a post on Facebook denouncing people for leaving negative comments. He said: "I just want to say this! While some of you were posting on social media helping us locate my world! And we appreciate all your help, Love and support! Others were waisting (sic) time talking about other things. Basically crap talk! Next time.... stop and think! And realize! You don’t know it all!” He added that he had been assisting the deputies with phonecalls and trying to find out what exactly happened to her.