Alexis Sharkey: Instagram influencer's friends want to share 'a lot of information' with cops probing her death
HOUSTON, TEXAS: Best friends of Alexis Sharkey have vowed to fight for justice as they claimed to have “a lot of information” which they want to share with police. The Instagram influencer was found dead on Saturday morning, November 28, less than 24 hours after she went missing. Her naked body was discovered by a garbage truck driver in Houston, Texas, a few miles away from the apartment, where she and her husband - Tom Sharkey - lived.
After Alexis’ tragic death, her four close friends – 32-year-old Tanya Ricardo, 29-year-old Desiree Jacobs, Kendra Martin, 33, and Chealsea Turnbow, 33 – have now come forward to share details that may help authorities in solving the case. The four said that in the months before the tragedy, the 26-year-old had shared with them about how she and her 49-year-old husband were in the process of separating. The friends also mentioned that Alexis did not appear to be the same person as earlier.
Chealsea told The Sun, “We have a lot of information we want to share with police, text messages, voice recordings, so much stuff that we think is vitally important and can help in their investigation. We have given statements but none of us has been questioned yet - and so far we don't believe Tom has either. The four of us have been together since this happened - we're terrified. Her killer is still out there but we are determined - we won't stop until we find out what happened to our friend. She was beautiful inside and out and we miss her terribly."
The dead influencer’s friends said on the evening of Friday, November 27, they last heard from her. She sent a message to a male friend's comments with a laughing emoji, but they became concerned when on Saturday, Alexis did not send a single message or called once to any of them as they all keep texting each other "constantly". “After we hadn't heard anything from her on Saturday, we were worried so Tanya and I went to their apartment at about 12:30 [noon]. They had a ring doorbell, but nobody answered. We sat outside and waited for hours,” Desiree explained.
Alexis’ remains were found on Saturday only. Paying tribute to her, Kendra said: “We just want the world to know that she was such a bright light. She was a very sweet, genuine person. When people would first meet her, they'd be drawn to her. I knew from the moment that I met her, she was going to be a lifelong friend because of her meek and kind spirit. She had a joy for life and brought a smile to all of our faces. She's greatly missed by all of us and we just want justice to be served."
Tanya, Desiree, Kendra, and Chealsea told The Sun that now their mission is to get justice for their friend. The four are working with another group of close friends of Alexis to find the answers. Tanya stated, “There's eight of us all together, us and another group of Alexis work friends. We're all in a group text together and we're doing everything we can to find out what happened. We are determined to get justice for Alexis."
Meanwhile, Alexis’ husband, Tom has paid a tribute to his dead wife, saying, “You made life so incredible! Made sense of my existence! My purpose! And showed me how to truly love!" before defending himself from people who are saying wrong things about him. “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 wasting [sic] time talking about other things. Basically crap talk! And if my wife would of seen this she would be disappointed in your actions! You all should be ashamed of yourselves! I have been assisting the deputies and making phone calls to fine [sic] out what happened to my wife. Next time…. stop and think! And realize! You don’t know it all!” he added.