Instagram influencer Alexis Sharkey, whose body was discovered dumped on the side of a road in Houston after she went missing a day after Thanksgiving, was naked at the time of her death, it has been reported. The body was found lying just a few miles from her home, authorities said on Monday.
Alexis Robinault, who went by Alexis Sharkey and described herself as a "mentor," reportedly had no visible wounds on her body and the cause of her death is yet to be determined, the Houston Police Department said in a statement. However, her body being found naked has raised several questions including the circumstances under which she died.
Mysterious Death
Sharkey went missing on Friday and her body was discovered less than 24 hours on Saturday morning on the roadside by city workers who had been driving down the street, according to the Houston Police Department. The body was found dumped on the side of the I-10 service road close to a four-star hotel and just three miles from her apartment, which is right off the same thoroughfare where she had been found.
However, what has shocked the police is that her body was found completely naked. Police presume that she was nude at the time of her death but there were no visible wounds. This has further left the authorities puzzled about how she died. Police are looking for a possible homicide angle.
On Saturday, Sharkey's mother Stacy Clark Robinault wrote in a Facebook post that her daughter, who had lived in Houston since January, hadn't been heard from since Friday. However, her body had already been discovered by that time but police wasn't sure if it was Sharkey since she didn't have an ID on her. Later, she was identified by a fingerprint after which investigators announced the body was that of Sharkey.
Who Killed Sharkey?
Although the exact cause of death will be revealed only after the autopsy report comes in, police believe there was foul play involved in her death. Sharkey, who was a self-described mentor, boasted more than 21,000 followers on Instagram and would often post about her husband Tom Sharkey, who she married last year.
However, all wasn't well between Sharkey and her husband and she was contemplating divorce. "Recently, she opened up to us about it and divorce was being filed," Tanya Ricardo, one of Sharkey's best friends, told KHOU 11 TV on Monday.
Alexis's mother reportedly told local media that her daughter had left her apartment on Friday night after an argument. However, she didn't take the car and was unreachable after that. It was not clear who she had the argument with and what it was about. The next day her husband called her mother to inform that Sharkey had been missing since Friday, more than 12 hours after police had already discovered her body.
A worried and perturbed Robinault then made a Facebook post about her daughter after which police related the two incidents. Later on Sunday, Robinault announced on Facebook that her daughter's remains were found.
On the other hand, a few things about the police investigation too aren't clear. Sharkey's husband wrote on Instagram late Sunday that had been helping police locate his wife since Saturday but it's not clear if he was notified of the body that was found close to his home Saturday morning.
According to police, they are investigating the case and Sharkey's husband too is a suspect as he may have something to do with her disappearance but nothing concrete can be said till the autopsy report comes in.
