Murry “Alexis” Foust, a 22-year-old Northern Kentucky University student who disappeared nearly a month ago, was found dead Sunday, May 24, 2026, at an abandoned steel plant in Wilder, Kentucky, bringing closure to a search that mobilized law enforcement and volunteer teams across northern Kentucky.
An independently organized search party discovered Foust’s remains at one Steel Plant Road in Wilder, roughly three miles from where surveillance cameras last captured the student walking through the Latonia neighborhood of Covington on April 27. EquuSearch Midwest, a volunteer group that assists in missing-person cases across the region, coordinated the team that made the discovery at the former industrial site.
The Covington Police Department confirmed the recovery on Sunday and said investigators have found no indication of foul play, though the Campbell County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined the official cause and manner of death. Police have said no additional information will be released until the coroner completes its examination.
Final Days Before Vanishing
Foust, a fine arts major in the College of Arts and Sciences, had been scheduled to graduate earlier this month. On April 27, the senior was expected to attend an afternoon class at NKU but never showed up.
What alarmed those close to Foust was the unusual nature of the disappearance. The student’s phone left at home, and a backpack later surfaced on the Northern Kentucky University campus, according to accounts from friends. Surveillance footage provided the last confirmed sighting, showing Foust in Latonia, a neighborhood about nine miles south of Cincinnati.
Weeks of Searching Across Northern Kentucky
Covington police issued a public alert on April 30, asking anyone with information to contact authorities. The search grew significantly in the weeks that followed, with officers deploying water rescue and search teams to comb nearby waterways. Drone operators were brought in to survey areas that were difficult for ground searchers to access.
The Campbell County Coroner’s Office confirmed the location where Foust’s remains were found as the grounds of an old steel plant in Wilder, a small city along the Licking River in northern Kentucky. Investigators have not explained how Foust ended up at the property or what occurred during the hours after leaving home without a phone.
Law enforcement thanked EquuSearch Midwest and other agencies that provided personnel and resources during the weeks-long effort. The police department emphasized that the timeline detectives assembled — anchored by the April 27 surveillance footage, the backpack recovered on campus, and the phone left at home — will likely be reexamined once forensic results are available.
University Mourns a Student Weeks From Graduation
The news hit Northern Kentucky University hard. Foust had been close to earning a diploma, a milestone that classmates and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences had looked forward to sharing with the student. The university issued a public statement expressing sorrow and reminding the campus community that mental health resources are available.
NKU directed students, faculty, and staff to Counseling Services, which operates around the clock and can be reached at (859) 572-5650. University administrators also thanked the Covington Police Department and the volunteers who spent the past month searching for Foust.
Unanswered Questions as Coroner’s Report Awaited
Major questions remain unanswered. How Foust made the roughly three-mile journey from Latonia to the Wilder site, and what transpired in the time after leaving home without a phone, remains unclear. While investigators have stressed that the evidence collected so far points to no foul play, they have noted that the final determination belongs to the coroner.
The case file remains open, and police have said they will release no further details until the coroner’s office issues its findings. The search that drew friends, neighbors, and strangers throughout northern Kentucky has ended, but the answers the Foust family has awaited for weeks are still days or weeks away.