The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences has ruled Alexis Sharkey's death a homicide, according to reports. The ruling comes nearly two months after the 26-year-old Instagram influencer was found dead on a Houston frontage road near Interstate 10.
Though no visible wounds were noted in initial reports of her death, further investigation found that Sharkey was killed by strangulation. Her body was found by city workers shortly after Thanksgiving. Sharkey had been reported missing several days before, after failing to meet friends to see a movie. The ruling of homicide by strangulation seems to confirm the suspicions of her mother, who told ABC13 that she believed Sharkey was murdered.
"I do. I do believe she was murdered. Yes. From what I've been able to gather as well as a mother's gut. I learned very young as a mom to trust my gut. It's not let me down," said Stacey Robinault. "We're very broken. We're very broken-hearted. It's just painful for someone so bright and having so much to offer ... just to be gone, to be snuffed out."
Sharkey is originally from Pennsylvania. After a brief stint in West Texas, she moved to Houston in January with her husband Tom Sharkey.
Sharkey and Robinault both have shared tribute posts to the late Instagram personality in the wake of her death. The former said that she "helped him make sense of the world" while the latter said "We will miss you, Love!"
