Searchers have found the body of a missing transgender student in Kentucky. Authorities discovered 22-year-old Murry Foust, a senior fine arts student at Northern Kentucky University, dead weeks after they vanished in late April.
Police in Covington said they do not suspect foul play in the case. Investigators said the Campbell County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death.
Officials added that detectives are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Foust’s death.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Foust family and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. While we are saddened by this loss, we hope this development can provide the family with some answers and a measure of closure,” Justin Bradbury said in a press release.
A statement from the Foust family was later shared on Facebook.
“Thank you to everyone in the community who has supported our family through this difficult time. By now, you have likely learned that [Murry] has been found and is no longer with us. While our hearts are broken and this is not the outcome we were hoping for, we can only pray that finding them provides closure and comfort to everyone who is hurting,” the statement posted by Jennifer Heise Foust reads.
The statement also said the family plans to create a scholarship in memory of Foust, who had been expected to graduate from Northern Kentucky University earlier this month. Friends and local media reports said Foust disappeared on April 27 after leaving for class but never making it there. Authorities later found his backpack on campus, while his cellphone remained at their apartment.
“We are establishing an art scholarship fund in their name to honor their love of art,” the statement says. “Any donations or proceeds from the sale of Murry’s work will be used to support other art students in the community.”
The family also announced that a previously scheduled exhibit of Foust’s artwork will still take place during Art After Dark at the Cincinnati Art Museum on May 29. The artwork will be available for purchase there. A pottery fundraiser is also expected to take place at NKU in the coming weeks.
The family added that donations were also being collected through Meal Train, with additional proceeds going toward the scholarship fund.
“Thank you again to everyone who came together to support us and lift us up,” the statement reads. “We pray Alexis ‘Murry’ Foust is at peace.”
An independently organized search team found Foust’s body in Wilder, a community about six miles south of Covington, where Foust was last seen alive on April 27. During the search, police widely shared surveillance footage of Foust in hopes of locating them.
According to local authorities and organizers, the extensive search effort lasted several weeks and included drones, K-9 units, water rescue crews, and thermal imaging technology.
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