Alexis Sharkey’s Cause of Death: How Did the Instagram Influencer Die?

Alexis Sharkey, a social media influencer whose naked body was found by the road in Texas after she disappeared in November 2020, was strangled to death, authorities said. On January 19, 2021, more than seven weeks after Sharkey’s body was found, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences revealed that her death has been ruled a homicide and that she died by strangulation, the medical examiner said in a statement

“The manner is homicide. The autopsy report will be available after law enforcement concludes its case,” a spokesperson for the office said in a statement emailed to Heavy.

Sharkey is listed in the medical examiner’s database under her maiden name, Alexis Robinault, and her next of kin is listed as her parents, not as her husband, Tom Sharkey.

Sharkey initially disappeared on November 27 and her body was found the following morning by city workers on the side of a road. Her body was nude and had no visible wounds, The New York Post reported, and the circumstances of her death have remained a mystery since then.

According to the outlet, the full autopsy will be released once authorities conclude the case but the Houston Police Department has yet to make any arrests or file charges in connection to the influencer’s death. The investigation is still ongoing.

Sharkey’s Husband Spoke to Media & Said She Was Unhappy & Stressed But Denied That They Were Having Marital Problems

The 26-year-old influencer, known also as Alexis Robinault, was married to Tom Sharkey, 49, for less than a year before her death. After her death, her husband took to social media and wrote, “My world! My everything! I’m so lost right now! My one and only!”

Sharkey’s friends spoke up after her death and said the marriage was unhappy and she was looking for a divorce. They said the influencer told them she was afraid of her husband and he had “been putting hands on her,” the Daily Beast reported. “He was sending really awful, nasty messages to her,” a friend told the outlet. “But one night when she and I were talking alone she said, ‘He strangles me and chokes me out and I black out and wake up on the bathroom floor every single time.'”

Sharkey’s husband denied those reports and said they were not going through a divorce, and while he acknowledged that she was stressed and unhappy, he said, “I was the one holding her, cuddling her, and building her back up.”

Earlier in December, Sharkey’s mother Stacey Robinault told Fox26 she had to “fight” her daughter’s husband to get custody of Sharkey’s body. She said after he stopped communicating with the family, they were able to get the medical examiner to change the next-of-kin custody to Robinault so the family could have a viewing.

Sharkey Was a Houston-Area Influencer & Skin Care Consultant

Sharkey’s mother spoke to ABC13 after her daughter’s death and said the young woman “had so much to offer.” She said the bright 26-year-old loved to travel but she was “snuffed out. And I don’t know why. The horrific nature of her last moments, I can’t even go there.” At the time, she explained, “I do believe she was murdered, yes,” which she knew based in part on her mother’s instinct.

Sharkey studied biology education at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, her Facebook profile indicated, and she worked at Monat, a premium hair and skincare company, as a mentor. She had over 21,000 followers on Instagram at the time of her death and had been sharing her lifestyle and skincare posts on her page.

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