College Student Alexis Crawford Found Dead a Week After Going Missing, Roommate Named as a Suspect

The 21-year-old Atlanta college student who has been missing since the early hours of Oct. 31 has tragically been found dead.

Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields announced the sad news during a press conference on Friday, telling reporters that Alexis Crawford’s body was found in a park in DeKalb County, Georgia, off of Columbia Drive.

Alexis’ roommate, Jordyn Jones, and Jones’ boyfriend, Barron Brantley, were named by authorities as suspects in connection to the Clark Atlanta University student’s death. Officials are currently working on securing arrest warrants for them.

It is not immediately clear if Jones and Brantley have obtained legal representation yet.

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Shields said investigators were led to Alexis’ body by one of the two suspects, who are both 21.

While no motive has been established, Shields explained that the Atlanta Police Department is currently looking into a previous police report that was filed by Alexis prior to her disappearance.

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“The department did take a police report from Alexis Crawford on October 27, and this is a few days prior to her being reported missing. In this report, Alexis described unwanted kissing and touching from Barron Brantley,” Shields told reporters.

“The case has come to one of the saddest conclusions possible and has been absolutely heartbreaking,” Shields went on, before thanking the investigators who “worked on this diligently and around the clock.”

“Thank you for treating Alexis as if she was one of our own family members,” she told investigators. “And to Alexis’ family: our hearts go out to you. I am so truly sorry that we could not provide you with a better ending.”

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In the wake of the news, Clark Atlanta University’s president George T. French Jr. issued a letter to the campus community, calling the discovery of Alexis’ body “the worst possible news.”

“Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with her family and with everyone who knew and loved Alexis,” he wrote, adding that the campus would have grief counselors on-site to help students, faculty, and staff cope with the devastating loss.

“Tonight, we mourn together,” he said. “For those who knew Alexis, and for our CAU family, the days ahead will be hard.”

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Alexis had been missing since the early hours of Oct. 31. She was last seen leaving the Heritage Station apartments near her school’s campus on Wednesday, Oct. 30, ABC affiliate WSB reported.

Family members said she speaks with someone in the family each and every day, but phone calls have been automatically sent to voicemail since Oct. 31.

In the police report filed by her family, her mother Tammy Crawford said she last spoke to her daughter on Oct. 30, and that she “seemed to be in good spirits and was laughing,” NBC affiliate WXIA reported.

That same night, Alexis’ sister, Alexandria Crawford, told investigators that she texted Alexis close to 9 p.m asking what her plans were for the weekend, which Alexis simply responded with “nothing,” 11 Alive reports.

Later that night, around 9 p.m., Alexis shared a post on Instagram. She also responded to an Instagram group message with laughing emojis about 20 minutes later, according to the local outlet.

The report said Crawford’s roommate allegedly took her to a liquor store around 11:30 p.m. and claimed she last saw Crawford an hour later, around 12:30 a.m. before she went to sleep.

When the roommate awoke on Thursday, Oct. 31, she allegedly told authorities that Crawford was gone, as were her phone, ID card, and debit card, though the apartment was locked.