Search party finds body of missing NKU student in Wilder

An independently organized search party found the body of Murry (Alexis) Foust in Wilder, ending a weekslong search for the 22-year-old Northern Kentucky University student who had been missing since April 27.

Covington police said the discovery was made May 24 at 1 Steel Plant Road, near Newport Steel. Foust was last seen in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood, and the search had stretched across Northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati area as volunteers, family members and law enforcement tried to trace the student’s movements.

The case drew in EquuSearch Midwest, a volunteer search-and-recovery organization that joined the effort in the days before Foust was found. During the search, Covington police asked the public to review surveillance video and send in any tips that could help identify where Foust went after being last seen. The continued search reflected how quickly a missing-person case can become a regional effort when a college student disappears and traditional leads run thin.

Northern Kentucky University had previously confirmed that Foust was a student at the university. Later reports identified Foust as a fine arts major who was scheduled to graduate on May 9. For classmates and neighbors, the timeline made the loss especially sharp: a student preparing to walk at graduation instead became the focus of a community search that lasted through the spring.

Covington police said there are no indications of foul play at this time. The Campbell County Coroner’s Office is expected to conduct a full autopsy in the coming days as investigators continue to piece together what happened between the last confirmed sighting in Latonia and the discovery in Wilder.

Foust’s family thanked supporters after the body was found, and police and university officials asked that the family’s privacy be respected as they grieve. The outcome has left a painful question that often lingers after volunteer searchers succeed where official efforts have not yet produced answers: how many more clues might have surfaced sooner if someone had recognized the right video, the right sighting or the right place to look.