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Body of Influencer, 26, Found on Side of Road

Family and friends believe Alexis Sharkey was murdered
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 1, 2020 3:46 AM CST
Updated Dec 1, 2020 6:55 AM CST
Influencer, 26, Found Dead on Side of Road
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / qunamax)

A popular Instagram influencer disappeared Friday, and her naked body was found the following morning on the side of the road in Houston. The mother of Alexis Sharkey, 26, tells ABC 13 she believes her daughter was murdered, but police are so far releasing few details, and her cause of death is pending an autopsy. Authorities believe her body, which had no visible injuries, had been outside overnight. Sharkey's mother, who lives in Pennsylvania, says her daughter moved to Houston with her husband in January. They met when Sharkey first moved from Pennsylvania to a different part of Texas, Click2Houston reports. He was the one who informed them on Saturday that she was missing, and the news station reports he has shared a number of mournful social media posts since her body was identified Monday.

A month ago, on a trip with friends, Sharkey "confided in me that night ... she's petrified," a friend tells ABC 13. "This girl is scared for her life." Multiple friends say they agree with Sharkey's mother that she was likely murdered, though no one says why she was reportedly scared for her life. Another friend tells KHOU that Sharkey's marriage of about a year to her 49-year-old husband was in a rough patch, "and divorce was being filed." Sharkey had spent Thanksgiving with that friend before disappearing. She was found three miles from her apartment. (More Texas stories.)

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