Murry "Alexis" Foust, a 22-year-old Northern Kentucky University student, has not been seen since Monday, April 27, when the young person left for class and never arrived. The Covington Police Department is leading the search, and as the case stretches into its second week, investigators say concerns for Foust's safety are growing.
Foust was last spotted in surveillance images walking through Latonia, a neighborhood in Kenton County, Kentucky. In the photos, Foust carried a bright yellow backpack and wore a dark jacket, a t-shirt, patterned pants, and sneakers. The department released those images on Friday in a public appeal for help.
What makes the disappearance especially alarming is the trail of personal belongings Foust left behind, scattered across multiple locations, with no clear explanation for any of it.
Charlie King, a close friend of Foust, posted a detailed appeal on Facebook urging the public to help. King described a set of facts that paint a deeply unsettling picture.
As King told the New York Post:
"Murry never made it to class and has been missing ever since."
King went on to describe where Foust's belongings turned up. The student's car was found a block from Foust's apartment in Latonia, off Decoursey Avenue. Foust's bag was located at NKU's campus. And when police searched Foust's apartment, they found the cellphone inside.
That combination, car near home, bag at school, phone left behind, suggests Foust set out for class but never completed the trip. The phone's presence in the apartment is particularly troubling. In an era when almost no one leaves home without a phone, a missing person without one is far harder to track.
King did not mince words about the gravity of the situation:
"There is not a trace of Murry anywhere, and their friends, family, and one of my best friends, who is their partner, are all very worried. At this point, it is crucial we begin spreading the word and searching for them."
King added that the behavior was completely out of character.
"This behavior is unheard of for Murry, and we are all panicking."
The Covington Police Department has not publicly named a suspect or described a known motive. In a statement, the department said simply that Foust was reported missing after last being seen on April 27 and urged the community to come forward with any information.
"Concerns for their safety have arisen, and your input could be crucial."
Police are asking anyone with information on Foust's disappearance to call 911 or the department's line at 859-292-2234. Foust is described as 5'7".
The case carries echoes of other recent disappearances that have drawn national attention. The FBI raid on a Tucson home tied to the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother showed how quickly missing-person cases can escalate when early leads go cold.
Northern Kentucky University confirmed awareness of the case in a statement provided to the Post. A university spokesperson said NKU is working with Covington police.
"Northern Kentucky University is aware that one of our students, Murry (Alexis) Foust, has been reported missing. We are deeply concerned, and our thoughts are with their family, friends, and all those impacted. The Covington Police Department is leading the investigation, and we are fully cooperating and supporting their efforts. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Covington Police."
The statement is measured, standard institutional language for an active investigation. But it confirms that the university regards the matter seriously enough to issue a public response and defer to law enforcement.
Missing-person cases involving college students tend to draw intense public concern, and for good reason. The tragic case of University of Alabama student Jimmy Gracey, whose body was recovered in Barcelona, is a reminder that time is the most critical variable once someone vanishes.
Several important questions remain unanswered. No one has publicly explained the gap between Foust's car being found near the apartment and the bag turning up at NKU. Did Foust drive to campus, leave the bag, and then return home on foot? Did someone else move the car? The surveillance images place Foust walking in Latonia, but the exact location and time of those images have not been disclosed.
It is also unclear who initially reported Foust missing, whether it was family, the partner King referenced, or someone else. The timeline between April 27 and the Friday release of surveillance photos leaves a window of several days during which public information was limited.
King's Facebook post filled some of that void, but the friend's account about the car, bag, and cellphone has not been independently confirmed by police in public statements. That does not mean the details are wrong, friends and family often have the most immediate knowledge, but investigators have not yet spoken to those specifics on the record.
The broader pattern of unresolved disappearances across the country, from unidentified remains pulled from Long Island Sound to cases that spiral into multistate manhunts, underscores how quickly the window for a safe recovery narrows.
As the search stretches past a week, the people closest to Foust are left with a cellphone that went nowhere, a car that barely moved, and a bag that made it to campus without its owner. King's final plea captured the urgency:
"Time is of the essence, and Murry's friends and family are so, so worried."
Covington police have the lead. NKU says it is cooperating. The surveillance images are public. But none of that changes the central, unanswered fact: a 22-year-old left for class on a Monday morning in Kentucky and has not been heard from since.
Every hour that passes without a break in this case is an hour that matters. The people of Kenton County, and anyone who has ever sent a kid off to college, deserve answers.
