@AlexisSharkey/Instagram
- Alexis Robinault, a Houston-based influencer also known as Alexis Sharkey, was found dead over the weekend.
- Robinault, 26, was found with no clothing and no visible wounds, police said.
- “I believe solely that she was murdered, because of the manner in which her body was left,” her mother, Stacey Robinault, told Insider in an interview.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A 26-year-old Instagram influencer from Houston, Texas, was found dead on the side of the road Saturday.
Alexis Robinault, who also used her husband’s last name, Sharkey, was found with no clothing and no visible wounds, Houston Police said.
Alexis’ mother, Stacey Robinault, told Insider in a phone interview on Wednesday that she believes that her daughter was murdered.
“I believe solely that she was murdered, because of the manner in which her body was left,” Robinault said. “It just drives deep into the soul that something very malicious happened here, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”
Alexis’ body was first found on Saturday morning and she was identified on Monday, police said in a press release. Alexis’ family had learned that she was missing on Friday.
A representative for the Houston Police Department told Insider on Wednesday that the department was still awaiting the results of the autopsy and could not comment further.
Some of Alexis' friends have reportedly said she was having marital issues
The tragedy of Alexis' death came during a weekend when Robinault said she would have otherwise been with her daughter, if not for the pandemic. "We were even going to get together over the week of Thanksgiving," she said. "Over the weekend of Thanksgiving is when she was killed, and so that's extremely heartbreaking as well."
Robinault said that she, her husband, and the rest of Alexis' family, who live in Pennsylvania, hadn't seen their eldest daughter since Christmas due to travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alexis had always wanted to escape the Pennsylvania cold, so Robinault was happy for her daughter to start her own life in Texas with her husband, Tom. Robinault recalled that the last time the whole family was together, with Alexis' husband and her younger sister, she was sad to see her daughter go. "When they pulled away and headed out, we were sad because we had had the most wonderful time together," Robinault said.
Several friends of Alexis' who spoke to The Daily Beast said that she and her husband were having trouble.
"I know they were going through some things," Kendra Martin, one friend, told The Daily Beast. "She had mentioned being separated even though they were still living in the same apartment. I actually pulled her aside two weeks ago to let her know I'm here for her, and that I know something is going on because her demeanor had changed over the last month."
Tom Sharkey did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an interview with ABC 13, ABC's affiliate outlet in Houston, Sharkey said he's been receiving death threats in the wake of the news of his wife's death. "She understood me. I understood her. We didn't fight when she left," he said of the night she went missing. "I just told her she couldn't drive under the influence ... She left anyhow. This is where we're at."
Alexis' friends set up a GoFundMe to raise money to support her family's travel costs and funeral plans, which has already raised more than $21,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Alexis was a budding influencer
Alexis's Instagram account now has more than 51,000 followers, but her follower count has more than doubled in the wake of her death. The account jumped from 20,000 followers on Sunday to 51,000 followers on Wednesday, according to data compiled by SocialBlade, a social media analytics website. Her TikTok account also has more than 57,000 followers.
"She was so much fun, she was very playful, she was very caring," Robinault told Insider of her daughter. "She made you feel good."
In addition to lifestyle and beauty content, Alexis used her Instagram to promote Monat, a haircare and wellness company that uses "market partners" to sell their products for commission, which is considered a form of multilevel marketing. A representative for Monat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Robinault said that she was surprised her daughter, whom she said disliked fundraising for her sports teams in high school and studied biology in college, was making a career off of selling products. "She went down a totally different road, and she's happy with it," Robinault said, "and if she was happy with her life, I was happy for her."
- Read more:
- A 35-year-old forced his girlfriend's 5-year-old son to leave his car as punishment before the child was struck and killed on a highway
- A man fatally shot a Black teenager in a hotel parking lot after confronting him over his loud music, Oregon police say
- F-Factor's Tanya Zuckerbrot is suing influencer Emily Gellis, alleging a 'smear campaign to destroy' the diet company and its founder
- How QAnon infiltrated the yoga world