Houston Police Investigating After Alexis Sharkey, Pennsylvania Native And Instagram Influencer, Found Naked, Dead On Side Of Road
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/CNN) -- An investigation is underway after a Pennsylvania native and Instagram influencer was found dead in Texas. The cause of 26-year-old Alexis Sharkey's death is unclear pending an autopsy.
But, homicide detectives are looking into what happened.
News outlets in Houston, Texas, report the woman's friends and family are in mourning.
"We're very brokenhearted," Sharkey's mother, Stacey Robinault, said.
Stacey Robinault, a Northwestern Pennsylvania native, believes someone murdered her daughter.
"It's living your worst nightmare ever, truly," Robinault said.
Sharkey's disappearance was first brought to the attention of news outlets after no one could reach her after Friday night.
On Saturday morning, a garbage truck driver spotted Alexis' body in a bush -- off Redhaw Street in West Houston. Police say she was naked with no visible injuries.
"It's just so, it's so painful for someone so bright and having so much to offer just to be gone, snuffed out and I don't know why."
Sharkey moved to Houston with her husband this year.
When reached by phone, her husband sounded upset and said he did everything in his power to find his wife. Before hanging up, he asked not to be contacted again.
Sharkey loved to share her life on social media, especially Instagram.
"She's just full of life," Lauren Breaux said. "She was fun and funny and just, honestly all around a great person."
Her friends remembered her as a kind, selfless soul who loved cats and always welcomed strangers.
"She's just the most caring and selfless person I've ever met, and you know, she's gonna be missed deeply and dearly," Ally Cale said.
"She was kind to everyone," Courtney Ehninger said. "She made sure everyone was included and was a friend to literally all."
In a heartbreaking conversation, her friends say she confided in them last month, telling them that she feared for her safety and worried about someone close in her life.
"I looked at her and I was like she's petrified. This girl is scared for her life," her friends said.
As loved ones search for the truth, Sharkey's mother, can't even begin to think about her funeral.
"Haven't worked out those details yet, but it will happen once she can be released and we can get our hands on our daughter one last time," her mother said.
©Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company contributed to this report.
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