Best friends of Insta star Alexis Sharkey ‘have vital info for cops’ probing her death and vow to fight for justice
THE best friends of the newlywed social influencer whose naked body was found on a road say they have “vital” information for cops about her death as they vow to fight for justice.
Alexis Sharkey, 26, went missing on Friday and her body was found early on Saturday morning a few miles from the apartment she shared with husband Tom Sharkey, 49, by a garbage truck driver in Houston, Texas.
Now her four close friends – Tanya Ricardo, 32, Desiree Jacobs, 29, Kendra Martin, 33, and Chealsea Turnbow, 33, told how in the months before her disappearance Alexis had confided in them how the couple were in the process of separating and her demeanor had changed.
The friends are now urging police in Houston to get in touch with them so they can share what they call “vital” information, vowing to do everything possible to obtain justice for Alexis – who they described as a “beautiful light in the world”.
“We have a lot of information we want to share with police, text messages, voice recordings, so much stuff that we think is vitally important and can help in their investigation,” Chealsea told The Sun.
“We have given statements but none of us has been questioned yet – and so far we don’t believe Tom has either.
“The four of us have been together since this happened – we’re terrified.
“Her killer is still out there but we are determined – we won’t stop until we find out what happened to our friend.
“She was beautiful inside and out and we miss her terribly.”
The friends say they last heard from Alexis between around 5:30 and 6:30pm on the evening of Friday, the day after they had spent a fun Thanksgiving at Tanya’s house.
They said despite going through the separation with Tom, who she had been dating for three years, she seemed to be in “good spirits” in the messages.
Her last message was when she responded to a male friend’s comments with a laughing emoji later the same evening – but they became worried after not hearing from her on Saturday – behavior they said was unusual as they all text each other “constantly”.
“After we hadn’t heard anything from her on Saturday, we were worried so Tanya and I went to their apartment at about 12:30 [noon] ,” Desiree said
“They had a ring doorbell, but nobody answered.
“We sat outside and waited for hours.”
Tragically the same day, Alexis’s body was found naked off the side of a road in West Houston under a bush.
The influencer – who had 21,000 followers on Instagram – had no visible injuries and her cause of death hasn’t yet been determined.
The four friends said that they had noticed Alexis’s demeanor had changed over the past few months and she seemed very sad.
The heartbroken four paid tribute to their friend – saying she was a kind-hearted and genuine person.
Kendra said: “We just want the world to know that she was such a bright light.
“She was a very sweet, genuine person. When people would first meet her, they’d be drawn to her.
“I knew from the moment that I met her, she was going to be a lifelong friend because of her meek and kind spirit.
“She had a joy for life and brought a smile to all of our faces. She’s greatly missed by all of us and we just want justice to be served.”
The four say they will not stop until Alexis’s killer is found – and revealed how they had been working with another group of Alexis’s close friends to investigate the case themselves.
“There’s eight of us all together, us and another group of Alexis work friends,” Tanya said.
“We’re all in a group text together and we’re doing everything we can to find out what happened.
“We are determined to get justice for Alexis.”
Tom has not responded to The Sun’s request for comment.
He did pay tribute to his wife on Facebook added: “You made life so incredible! Made sense of my existence! My purpose! And showed me how to truly love!”
Tom also defended himself on Facebook against those saying negative things about him, writing: “I just want to say this! While some of you were posting on social media helping us locate my world! And we appreciate all your help, Love and support!
“Others were wasting [sic] time talking about other things. Basically crap talk! And if my wife would of seen this she would be disappointed in your actions! You all should be ashamed of yourselves!” Tom wrote.
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“I have been assisting the deputies and making phone calls to fine [sic] out what happened to my wife. Next time…. stop and think! And realize! You don’t know it all!”
The Houston Police Department have said investigations into the death are ongoing.