True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 2: Young Influencer Vanishes! - The Heartbreaking Case of Alexis Murphy | True Crime Stories

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

The search for Alexis Murphy intensifies as investigators dig deeper into the digital trail she left behind. In Part 2 of this devastating case, new details emerge from witness statements, timelines, and the online interactions that may hold the key to her disappearance. As hope collides with grim discoveries, the reality of what may have happened becomes harder to ignore. What clues were missed early on—and who was Alexis last in contact with? True Crime with Kimbyr continues this heartbreaking investigation with empathy, precision, and a careful breakdown of the evidence that would ultimately shift the case forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Is that Alexis likes to show off the way that she looks, her physical appearance, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that. We're proud of the way we look, and sometimes we like our outfits, we think we look cute that day, and we want to show it off, especially when you're younger. But what might look cute to Alexis could look a lot different to someone who has a criminal mind. A predator is going to look at those pictures in a very different perspective. It's one of the reasons investigators theorize that she had so many followers,

and it's kind of hard to tell how old she is. Some may argue that a video like this one could have her appearing as though she's an adult when we know she isn't. I told you she likes to dance, but videos like this one could possibly give someone with a warped mind a different idea. and Lieutenant Billy Mays quoted, It's a breeding ground for predators. But Alexis's aunt Trina said that she knew her niece, and she knows how she was raised, and she thought it was completely normal for teenagers.

And I can understand where her aunt is coming from. Alexis was gorgeous, and unfortunately some of the things she tweeted could have been taken the wrong way by the wrong people. Some of her pictures and some posts that other people created that she decided to repost. with her own captions and comments could be looked at as worrisome because of her age. Because someone can look at her like an adult.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that someone her age has the capacity to understand the dangers that are out there in the world, especially from a small town. Investigators just know they have a lot of work ahead of them. There really is no easy way to go through everyone that she interacted with. I know it took me a whole day just to read a lot of these tweets and get an understanding of who Lexus was as a person. was as a person, let alone trying to track down every single mention, every single retweet, every single DM. And that is what investigators were working on. To reiterate, just because someone posts sexy photos of themselves doesn't mean that they're responsible for someone else's actions

or someone's perspective, the way that someone thinks when they're looking at said photos. But it does allow investigators to understand potential dangers that Alexis could have opened herself up to. Remember, criminals target certain individuals. It's easy to see when reading her tweets that she's looking for someone to love her, to make her feel special, to make her happy. So if someone can pose as all of those things, they could potentially work their way into her life and get close enough to hurt her. Her family doesn't want to see it that way. They talked about the fact that she was humble, that she didn't know she was beautiful, and that she was the type of girl who was loving and caring and innocent. And I know someone can be all of those things

and still be portraying something different on social media that can be taken as something else. We don't consider it real life until real life and social media collide. That's when it makes these experiences real. There's something else they make as a connection on her Twitter. but before I go into that, I want to go back to the other portion of this investigation that I told you was going on at the same time. We need to backtrack because investigators are going through Alexis's Facebook messages. And they find out she made plans with a guy in Lynchburg named Michael Hendricks on the night of August 3rd. They were supposed to meet up and the two of them had been in contact for quite some time. From the content of the messages, the investigators concluded that they seemed really interested in one another and that Alexis was.

eager to come see Michael. So they track Michael down. He claims Alexis never showed up. He said the last time that he talked to her was around 6 p.m. on the 3rd of August, but that she ghosted him after that. Hmm. Very interesting. Well, they dig deeper and Michael has a solid alibi for the past several days. And so he's ruled out for the time being. Meanwhile, as Billy Mays is working on her Twitter account, agents are combing through each and every one of her posts. to find out where Alexis spent her time. Would there be any places she would have stopped on her way to Lynchburg that day?

And there are other investigators working on where Alexis hung out. And they pinpoint the McDonald's and the Liberty gas station as a place that they need to look into and interview people who would frequent it, including the staff. It's also on her way to Lynchburg.

So could she have stopped there before making her way out of town? That's their next focus. But first on the evening of Thursday, August, 8th, hundreds of people gathered to pray for her and her family in a candlelight vigil. And it was held at the football field of Nelson County High School. And everyone gathered around. They had candles in their hands.

They shared stories about Alexis. And of course, the media was there to capture everything. It started to rain and people were just huddling under their umbrellas, continuing to sing and read scripture and to speak out loud to Alexis. Saying things like Alexis, we love you. There are generations of. of love represented here and we're going to find you. There were also several church leaders that were in the crowd and they were just encouraging everyone to hold on to their faith. That Alexis will

be found and to draw strength from God and keep praying and keep spreading the word about Alexis until somebody comes forward with information so that they could bring her home. Alexis's classmate, Ramona Bryant, she passed out pink ribbons at the entrance to the field. Pink, as I said, was Alexis's favorite color and they wore it to support her and to keep her memory alive. The next morning, new information was posted on the help find Alexis Murphy Facebook page, and here's what they said they learned overnight. Investigators were pulling every surveillance camera along Route 29 corridor, trying to find anything that may tell them where Alexis Murphy was and when. Two, her cell phone was still not active. Three, the investigators have narrowed down a

specific time frame for when her car was left at car mic cinemas. However, they did not release that to the media. Four, if the search continues, officials say they will likely begin to expand their search outside of the state. And five, they have already received tips from other states, but none of those have panned out to be anything. Six, for now, investigators are still acting under the assumption that Alexis is in Virginia. Seven, investigative Anecators acknowledge that they're not releasing a lot of information to the public, but they're asking everyone to please bear with them. And they say they're making progress and the case is moving in leaps and bounds every day. People also started passing around these posters and they were made by Help Save The Next Girl.com.

It's a nonprofit organization formed in honor of Morgan Harrington. She was that 20-year-old Virginia Tech student I told you about that went missing after a concert in Charlottesville. and their motto is buddy up, stay together, stay safe. Morgan's abduction and murder prompted the beginning of Help Save the Next Girl. They exist to spread information and promote personal safety. And this organization was founded by Dan and Jill Harrington, and those are Morgan's parents. Amanda St. Clair from Help Save the Next Girl made these posters for Alexis. They included the Help Find Alexis Murphy Facebook link, as well as a tip line and a description of Alexis.

It also includes what she was wearing when she was last seen, a pink blouse and floral print full-length spandex pants, brown boots, and she was carrying a dark and light colored gray purse. Guess what? We're about to catch a glimpse of that. That's right. Because while investigators were trying to pinpoint the places that Alexis may have gone on her way to Lynchburg,

they ended up at that location I spoke about, the McDonald's slash Liberty Gas Station, and they decide to pull the surveillance video footage. This is when the case takes detectives in a totally new direction because they finally catch a glimpse of Alexis Murphy. Employees of both the Liberty Gas Station and McDonald's knew who Alexis was. They knew her very well. She came in there every single day, like many other teenagers. Not only would she come in to get something to eat or fill her car up with gas, she hung out there. She was there for an extended period of time, socializing

with other people and it was around 7 p.m. that the camera catches her. Her car is parked at one of the pumps and she comes inside the store to pay for her gas. Everything seems pretty normal. She just seems to go right up to the counter, pay for the gas, goes back to her vehicle to pump it. The last known activity from her phone is at 7.17 p.m. So they had this 17 minute window and they were trying to figure out What happened during that time frame? They started interviewing the people who worked at both the McDonald's and the Liberty Gas Station. And people said she was happy that day. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

She was smiling, being herself. But then when her family checked out the footage, they had a different perspective on the way that they thought that she looked. They said they thought she looked like she had a blank stare on her face and that she looked very uncomfortable. But it's so hard to tell. We don't always portray exactly. what we're feeling and thinking. We could be stressed. She could have been trying to get out of there as fast as possible, get to her hair appointment. You don't know you're being filmed. You're not really playing up to the camera. I know from what I've seen online, yes, she's always smiling and bubbly,

but we're just catching her in a mundane act of paying for gasoline. But now they know where she was last seen. This is where they're going to concentrate. Not only that, they're going to pull all their surveillance footage from a week prior to her coming in the gas station, and while she's in the gas station, as well as a couple hours into the night following that time that she's last seen. And they're trying to pinpoint whether or not anyone suspicious was around if she had any weird interactions, if anyone stands out to them. There's also a car lot across the street, across Route 29, so they started looking through all of those cars as well because they don't know. She could be anywhere. It's like she walked out of that gas station.

and disappeared. The investigators were playing the short portion of the video over and over again, probably hundreds of times. And finally, something stood out to them. It's almost like you need to look at something again and again and again for something very small to become something very big. When Alexis was coming into the store, a man held the door open for her as she walked inside. This is usually meant as a courtesy to help someone out, a nice little gesture, a little friendly assistance but because this was the only real interaction between Alexis and anyone that they saw coming and going from the store in the footage it stands out and they narrow their suspect pull down now they start to question the gas station cashier the one that was there when Alexis was checking

out and that clerk tells the detectives that there was some kind of conversation between Alexis and this man holding the door according to this witness it seemed like the two of them knew each other. But what's interesting is that this is a middle-aged man. This wasn't a young guy. This wasn't someone that Alexis would have gone to school with or hung out with on an ordinary day at Liberty gas station. He looked rough. He wasn't someone clean cut. And he certainly didn't look like someone that she would be interested in talking to or hanging out with. He just didn't fit the profile of, let's say, someone that Alexis was going to the gas station to deliberately meet up with. and the clerk does add something else.

He said that this guy is familiar to him, that he comes in all the time. He recognizes him, especially by his distinctive vehicle. He drives a GMC suburban with camo stripes on it. Now, wait before you say, no, no, no, it's Chevy Suburban. I have to correct you. GMC made a suburban, which is now called a Yukon back in the 80s and the 90s.

This is the vehicle, a GMC suburban. This is what it looks like. It had a camouflage stripe going around the side, on the doors, very distinctive. Another thing this clerk said was that this man had a tattoo of Daffy Duck on his neck. That is something they definitely would not be able to miss. This is their number one priority to track this man down. So the police take screenshots from the surveillance video of both Alexis and this unidentified man

who held the door open for her and they start to go around to all the businesses in this area and they start asking, have you seen this man? Do you know who he is? Because he frequents this area. They also did this in Charlottesville because remember, that is where Alexis, his dad's car was found abandoned and they actually get a hit. The place that they get this lead is none other than a local adult video store called Ultimate Bliss. An employee there says, oh yeah, I know who this guy is. He comes in all the time. The store manager goes ahead and gives investigators all of the security footage, and it turns out, 45 minutes before the interaction with Alexis, this unidentified.

man was in that adult video store. Oh, and it was definitely him. They could see the tattoo and everything. He had stopped at the shop to get some adult movies. He got a couple of them that evening and the manager went through their transactions for that day and they were able to give investigators a name, Randy Allen Taylor. Investigators immediately run Randy's name and get his last known address. You guys, it's only one mile from the Liberty gas station. It takes four. minutes to get there. Now if you've been here before, this is the part of the video, this is the part of the case where things start to speed up because everything is going to start happening really fast because they just pinpointed their prime suspect. They have nothing else to go on. So that's exactly

who he is right now. And guess what road Randy lives off of? The 29. And Investigator Mays is already heading towards that property, getting all the other agents information so that they can meet him there. And when he gets there or where he thinks the property is supposed to be, he doesn't see anything. He's looking at what we're looking at on the screen. All it is is just a bunch of tall grass and trees. He can't even see a driveway. He doesn't know where he's supposed to go. He just finally steps right through all the brush and the grass and he's able to see that there is a dirt driveway hidden behind all that. And lo and behold, there is the camouflage SUV. It matched the description of the clerk at the Liberty gas station. They also

I also see that there's a broken down old camper on the property as well as a building, but the building is an old abandoned home than nobody lives in. Investigator Mays said he felt like this was something you would see in a horror movie, but this is real life. He walks up and he knocks on the camper door and sure enough, Randy answers. Investigator Mays tells Randy why they're there. He said, I'm here about a missing girl. Her name, Alexis Murphy.

last seen at the Liberty Gas Station and he shows a picture of Alexis and Randy says he's never seen her before and that he wasn't at Liberty Gas Station on August 3rd. He was basically acting like he had no idea what they were talking about but Mays has a feeling that Randy is hiding something because they know for a fact. He was definitely at Liberty Gas Station so why would he lie about that? That's when Mays decides to confront him with the fact that they have him on video and that he's holding the door open for her. So his demeanor changes. And he lets them know,

okay, yes, I was at the gas station. And without even asking him another question, Randy just starts to talk. And he starts to tell the investigators a story about how he met Alexis. He says he met her probably about a year ago at a local car wash he was working at at the time. And he had been smoking some weed

and she came up to him and made a comment about something along the lines of, that smells really good. So when you saw her at the gas station on August 3rd, yes, he recognized her. He knew who she was, but he didn't have anything to do with her disappearance. Well, the fact that they have the surveillance video, plus Randy admits to knowing Alexis, this is grounds for Mays to obtain a search warrant for the camper.

And this is when things are going to heat up, and I'm going to tell you, I was shocked by this next part. It just blew my mind. I couldn't believe the things that I was seeing and reading and hearing about. It was too much for me to take in. It was just one thing after another thing after another thing. Unbelievable. Something Detective Mays points out is that once you're five feet back off of Route 29 towards this guy's camper, you're in the shadows.

No one would know that you're there. So they leave. They come back with the warrant and Randy is waiting for them in the driveway. He's not saying anything. He's just kind of just standing there. They also noticed that there's a video camera on the top of his camper, which was a little weird, as well as a spotlight on the front of his vehicle. As soon as detectives step into that camper, something catches their eye, something shiny, and it's stuck inside the carpet. They kneel down and they pick it up, and they realize it is a diamond stud.

one single diamond stud and as they're still looking around on their hands and ease they locate a broken fingernail that is deeply embedded into the carpet this place is a mess there are things everywhere you can't really tell what's evidence or what is trash but they make their way to Randy's bed and one of the pillows has a long black hair attached to it a root of that hair was still intact. And that means that it was pulled out of the scalp by force. It also means that they can find out whose hair it was with DNA.

This is not good. This is horrifying already. And I'm sure you are making the connections, but there will definitely be more. And there will also be a lot of confusing aspects to this case and questions that will go unanswered for a long time. But let me get there. The investigators have seen enough at this point.

They know how crucial it is that they get a DNA analysis done on what they have just found so far. So they actually get in touch with Quantico. This is the federal FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, and they let them know, we need a DNA analysis rushed. And the lab tells them, we can get it done and 48 hours. And that's fast. This stuff usually takes weeks, if not months. And meanwhile, the investigators leave Randy's property and they head back to Liberty Gats,

station because they want to know if there are any other cameras on that building. They know in their minds Alexis was in that camper. Why? How? They have so many questions. And luckily, there is another camera. And from this other vantage point, you're not going to believe what they saw. Honestly, it still doesn't make sense to me.

And there are a lot of theories about why they saw what they saw. But they catch a glimpse of Randy's SUV on the 29. going towards his property and right behind his vehicle is the white Nissan Maxima directly behind him following him going north toward Charlottesville, not Lynchburg. Why? Why was she following him? Was she driving that car? If she was driving that car, why in the world would she be following a 48-year-old man to his property? While investigators are still waiting on those DNA results, they search around Randy's entire property. There's just all kinds of garbage and trash, mountains of trash behind his camper. It's not easy to search through. There's really high grass. There's all kinds of ticks in

there, but investigators are determined. They even brought in these special canines, and this was fascinating. I had never heard about this before. These type of canines literally specialize in tracking the scent of a specific glue that's used in the manufacturing process of cell phones. How insane is that? Because that was critical. They wanted to find Alexis's cell phone because they thought that that could provide a lot of evidence like did she meet up with someone who was she talking to last? And after they brought those canines in, in about just like 30 minutes, they find her phone.

It's literally 70 feet from where Randy's camper is located. Unbelievable. It's completely shattered too. It's broken and it's obvious that the phone had been broken on purpose. It's been destroyed for the most part, but they can still send that in for forensic analysis. Honestly, finding that iPhone was almost like closing the case for them, but it isn't closed yet. I'm going to tell you that right now. But this is something they knew she would always have with her. It was her lifeline. Our phones are like part of us. We really don't go anywhere without them. They had enough to arrest Randy for abduction, and when they do, Randy acted as though he was completely thrown off guard. But it's pretty freaking obvious that Alexis was there, even though they don't have that DNA match, yet they just know. But Randy has a story for them.

Another story. And listen to this. He says, okay, I didn't want to be involved, but you're right. Alexis was here, but she wasn't alone. She was with, as he put it, some black guy. He said that her in the sky came to his camper to smoke some weed. And that's what they did. They came over, bought some weed, and then they left.

And he said the last time you saw Alexis, she was completely fine. She left with this black guy with dreads. They said, do you have a name? And he actually does. He says that the guy's name is Damien Bradley. They're not really sure what to think about this because they know that Randy likes to tell stories. He likes to lie. They've already caught him in a lie.

But they do go through Alexis' Facebook, and sure enough, one of her friends is a man named Damien Bradley, and he lives in Nelson County, and it turns out he left town right after Alexis when missing. And now he's in Alabama. That's definitely a red flag. Could something have happened between Damien and Alexis? After Randy was with them, smoking weed in the camper, did Randy leave? And then they stayed.

they need to know more, so they track down Damian Bradley. They find out he works at the local McDonald's that's attached to the Liberty gas station. And this is a pretty big deal because we know this is where she was right before she ended up at Randy's camper. So was Damien driving that car? Also, we know Alexis loves fratpes and that she's always at McDonald's. Look, she even tweets pictures of McGrittles. Well, they do get to talk to Damian. They ask him about Alexis and he says,

you know what? Yeah, we talked, kind of had crushes on one another. She would come in and I would see her, but I never hung out with her outside of work. And they're like, are you sure? And that's when they tell him the story that Randy gave about his version of what happened on August 3rd. And he says, that's a lie. That's all a lie. Is it though? Because after all, Damien definitely fits the profile of someone that Alexis would hang out with, someone she might have trusted, someone she knew, since they talked each time they saw each other on a regular basis of McDonald's, and you might be wondering what Alexis's family thinks about all this. Well, they have their thoughts.

It seems like any time weed was brought up, her family would make sure to mention that Alexis was a really good girl, that she was very responsible, that she was the typical innocent, sweet teenager, but that doesn't mean that she didn't like to smoke weed. However, I completely understand the stigma that existed and still does. As a matter of fact, a post was made on the help line Alexis Facebook page and it addressed this entire topic. Since social media is accessible to everyone and everyone was trying to help piece things together to help solve this puzzle, they saw pictures of Alexis smoking and they were apparently victim blaming when no one knows the facts of this case. Alexis is not on trial.

Alexis is the victim. Whether or not she did or didn't smoke, remember, victimology and victim blaming are different. Saying things like, see, smoking weed leads to associating with the wrong people, she should have known better. That is victim blaming. But saying something like, she liked to smoke and this pervert most likely used this to his advantage, just like you would offer kids candy. That's acknowledging how these criminals will find ways to work their ways into a potential victim's life. Here is the post that went up in regard to this on Facebook and it read. With all the comments being released from Randy Taylor today. I want to be clear about a few things.

Alexis Murphy is not on trial here. She is the victim. Analyzing her Twitter and her Facebook accounts to pass judgment on what kind of person you think she may be is really unfair since she's not here to defend herself. Our main focus should be to help bring Alexis home and to bring those who are involved in her disappearance to justice. Thank you all for your support and prayers. What is even more important to look at and what didn't make sense was if she was going to an appointment all the way in Lynchburg, why in the world would she make this random stop out of the way to hang out with a guy, Damien, that she supposedly had never hung out with before, right before she's supposed to leave town to meet up with another guy, Michael, that she was interested in and

actually make plans with. It just doesn't make sense. The timeline doesn't work for me. Plus, Damien has an alibi. August 3rd, He wasn't even at McDonald's or near Liberty gas station. He was actually donating blood around the same time that Alexis would have been at the gas station. The whole story that Randy gave about how Damien supposedly left McDonald's while he was working to go buy or sell or smoke weed with a complete stranger, it really didn't make sense.

That's right. Damien said he never met Randy. What detectives already know is that not only did Damien and Alexis spent a lot of time at Liberty Gas Station and McDonald's, but so did Randy. That's probably where Randy saw Damien working behind the counter. And they now think that Randy's just trying to throw them off track. It's starting to look like they need to go back and look in Randy's direction.

And as the case becomes more widespread, there are other people coming forward with tips, especially in regard to Randy. And one involves in Applebee's and Charlottesville. Someone comes forward with evidence that Randy came in on the night of August 4th, around 11, He ordered a couple beers and then he left in a cab. And guess where this Applebee's was located while it's walking distance from the movie theater where the car that Alexis was driving had been found and seen on camera at 1030? He left in a cab. What does that tell you? Well, circumstantially, it says he was the one driving that Nissan Maxima.

And when Alexis's Aunt Trina hears the name Randy Taylor and she sees a picture of him, she's shocked. because she realizes she knows who he is. He used to work at a used car lot and she bought a car from him. Wow, I mean, it is a small town after all. But as people get word that Randy may be involved, more info starts to come out. Some people say they were very uncomfortable when they saw him at the gas station, that he would sit in his SUV just smoking and watching people for hours.

Ugh, it's probably young girls. was looking at. So gross. They do go ahead and collect a sample of DNA from Damien just in case. Just in case they want to eliminate him 100% or just in case it turns out he really was in the camper. But speaking of DNA, well, you probably could have guessed this, but the DNA results are back. That was a Lexus Murphy's strand of hair, the one that was found on Randy's pillow. What is going on? Well, investigators think they know. That's when they make a little unexpected drop-in back at Randy's by the FBI this time. And he definitely didn't think that they were going to come back.

He thought that the search was over. And so he hid something after they left. They end up finding the shirt that Randy was seen wearing in the Liberty Gas Station video. And get this. It was balled up underneath his couch. Wow, great hiding place, Randy. But I'm glad you suck at covering up evidence. when they unroll this bald-up t-shirt, a track of hair extensions fall out, along with two

false eyelashes. What the actual F. But the worst part was all the blood. The shirt was covered in it. So unbelievable. And at this point, authorities really want to up the charge from abduction to murder. After everything they found and through experience, they believe that sadly this is not a case where Alexis was taken and got away or was released.

The extensions were pulled from her scalp. They did not just fall out. The broken nail, the nose ring, all of those things had to come off Alexis in a struggle. The problem is, Alexis's family is holding on to the hope that she will turn up. A murder charge solidifies their worst fear that she is dead. Plus, they haven't found a body. Usually we hear, no body, no crime, but that is not how the prosecutor saw things. There were cases that have been tried in Virginia without a body being discovered, like the Stephen Epperly case. But he would need to sit down with Alexis's family and tell them that he didn't think she was

alive and that they would agree to charge Randy with murder. I mean, her items with her DNA were found at this random stranger's house. She hasn't made contact with her family. Her phone is completely smashed. We know that's her lifeline. Not only did she miss a date with a guy that she had been planning to meet up with in Lynchburg that night, but she also missed a very important hair appointment for her senior photos. This wasn't like Alexis, but they had to convince her family that she was dead.

That was critical to get the family on board. This is not just a legal thing. They were worried about not getting the family on board. because how are you going to charge someone with murder if the family is still adamant that she's alive? It was more about how this would affect the trial. If the family is still out there holding vigils and saying she's going to come back, then they wouldn't be convinced that Randy killed her. And that's built in doubt before the trial would even start.

If a jury thinks that Alexis' own family doesn't think she's dead, why would they convict this man? So they had to come up with a plan. say, well, why not offer Randy a deal? Tell him, if you can show us where the body is, we won't give you life in prison. We'll take that off the table and we'll give you 20 years. And that's a really hard deal for them to make. But at the same time, I can understand that the most important thing is to bring Alexis home, dead or alive. So the family agrees. And they present this offer to Randy. I can't believe what he says. He says, give me 10 years and I'll tell you

where she is. He's been sitting there saying he's innocent. So why is he acting like he now knows where she is if he didn't kill her? There's so much more to this. Don't leave because I want you to find out what happens next. Randy's trial was set for May 2014 and meanwhile, the search is still on. Evidence is still being collected from Randy's property and remember that abandoned building while they go inside and they find this weird scrapbook. It truly gives them a glimpse into this wicked and perverted mind of Randy Taylor. There are all these cutouts of women with no clothes on, and their faces are cut out of the pictures. And another person's face is pasted on top. And guess whose face it is? Not Alexis is. But the daughter of one of Randy's co-workers. He is sick.

Still, Randy is steadfast in his innocence. Well, remember Samantha Clark? I briefly mentioned that She lived close to Charlottesville back in 2010. She was 19. She lived at home with her parents and her little brother. She was home until midnight when she was apparently picked up by someone. Remember this? She told her brother she was going out and she would be back the next morning. But just like Alexis' mom, Samantha's mom worked the night shift.

And she didn't come back until the next morning. Samantha never returned. She left behind a pair of her pajamas on the bed and she took her house key. She didn't have a cell phone. so they weren't able to track her. Well, guess what? She was friends with Brandy Taylor. He was the prime suspect in her case,

and investigators from her case had been in Lovingson this whole time, working out whether there were any connections between her case and Alexis. Samantha had started to hang out with a new group of friends the week prior to her disappearance, and one of those new friends was the then 45-year-old Randy Taylor. And it said that he would throw

parties and invite young people to come over and smoke and drink and hang out. Through phone records, Randy Taylor was the last person that had contact with Samantha Clark. He called Samantha's house six times the night that she went missing. He even admits that he was the last person to see her. But he says he's not responsible for her going missing. Really? While all this is going on, The girls' volleyball team at Nelson County High School began their fall season without Alexis. They wore pink ribbons in their hair with her name and her jersey number. And it was touching. And it is a game.

It's a waiting game. May 1st, 2014 was the first day of Randy's trial and still no Alexis. The search hasn't stopped. The Facebook and other social media pages were still buzzing almost every day with info and keeping Alexis on everyone's mind. The prosecution and the prosecution. has a theory about what they think happened. They think Randy enticed Alexis, just like he'd done to other teens in the past with the promise of selling her some weed. He may have shown her some,

which is where he could have pulled in that line that she said, oh, it smelled really good, like it's good quality, that type of thing. That could have happened that day not a year ago at some car wash, because lies and the truth blend. His house was only four minutes away, and he could have used that as, you know what, it'll be really fast. Only live a mile away. They don't think anyone else was driving her car to his place, but they believe that once she arrived, she was either forced into his camper

or she went in to retrieve the weed, but either way, they think that he became physical with her and ultimately forced himself on her and then ended her life in that altercation. Then they think he kept her body there on Saturday until he figured out what he was going to do next. And then on Sunday night, he takes her to wherever he hit her, and then he drives that car to Charlottesville,

dumps it in that movie theater parking lot, and then gets a cab back to his house. Alexis's family doesn't believe this version of events. They say, there's no way that Alexis would have willingly drove out to his property. They think that she was somehow forced there. During the opening argument, prosecutor Anthony Martin, used the evidence that they found to paint a very gruesome picture of what they believe transpired in that camper. But the defense countered this with a theory that police

planted the hair extensions and other items so that they could nail Randy because he was the suspect in those other disappearances and they just wanted to close those cases. But then when that bloody t-shirt was revealed by the prosecution with her DNA on it, a mixture of blood saliva and other bodily fluids. Yeah, there was no body. But Anthony Martin argued, let's not reward a person by not convicting them just because they did a good job hiding the body. And I agree. After a five-day trial, just a few hours passed in jury deliberations when five men and seven women found Randy Taylor guilty. And as the jury's walking out before he's sentenced, Randy stands up and shouts, I'll take the original deal of 20 years and tell you.

you where she is, but it's too late. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, but he still maintains that he has nothing to do with Alexis going missing. And he even does an interview from behind bars. Here's part of that now. No, I did not kill Lexham Murphy or hurt Alexis Murphy. Do you know where she is? No, sir, I do not. And do you know what happened to her? No, sir, I do not. Wait, something else happens. Something that makes prosecutors think they may have convicted the wrong guy. They think that maybe Randy had been telling the truth. Just two months later, police arrest a black man with dreadlocks. Recall Randy's description of the guy who he said came with Alexis to his camper. Well, the guy that was arrested is suspected serial killer Jesse Matthew.

In connection with two of the girls that I mentioned earlier, Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington. Morgan is the girl that went missing after the concert in 2009 in Charlottesville. Her skeletonized body was found a few months later on a farmland six miles away from the concert venue. Hannah Graham went missing in 2014 after Alexis. Turns out, Jesse admitted he was the one that killed Hannah. The last time her friends had heard from her was a text message around 1 o'clock in the morning on September 13, 2014.

She told her friends that she was on her way to a party in Charlottesville, but she'd gotten lost. She was never heard from again. Will authorities end up pulling surveillance video? And they find out that she was at a restaurant called Tempo in Charlottesville. Guess who she was with, Jesse Matthew, who was 32 years old at the time.

A witness at that restaurant said that Jesse was in there holding onto Hannah. And it looked as though Hannah was very intoxicated. And then someone else that was in that parking lot witnessed Hannah with Jesse and they were next to his Chrysler Sebring and this witness actually heard Hannah say, I'm not getting in the car with you. Jesse had already been accused of forcing himself upon women on two separate colleges he had attended in Virginia, Liberty University and Christopher Newport University. He left both of those schools after those allegations. The way they

connected Jesse to Morgan Harrington was through forensic evidence that was taken back in 2009. It matched Jesse Matthew. And it turns out that Jesse interacted with Morgan the night that she went missing. Hannah and Morgan's remains were found only five miles apart. Jesse Matthew pleaded guilty to Morgan and Hannah's murders. And now Randy's defense attorney wants the state to look into Jesse as the person who was really responsible to what happened to Alexis. Well, they end up running Jesse's DNA against the evidence they have in Alexis's case. and they're able to rule him out. It wasn't him.

Nevertheless, Randy appealed his conviction, but it was denied. However, the case doesn't end there. Seven years later on December 3, 2020, a body is discovered. It's located on private property off of Stagebridge Road along Route 29 in Lovingston, Virginia.

At the time, it was not announced to the public. This location was only two minutes away driving distance from Randy's property. It wasn't until two months later on February 5th, 2021, that they actually identified the body as belonging to Alexis Murphy. I have so many questions, but on the help find Alexis Murphy Facebook page, a post went up February 18th and it read, There are approximately 3,679,200 minutes in seven years. Alexis has been missed in each of them. We have spent them grieving the unknown and her presence while simultaneously trying to continue to find joy in life.

While in many ways we are just truly beginning to start the grieving process, we also realize this means we can begin celebrating who Alexis was and the incredible impact she had on each of us in life and in death. Alexis's family also released this statement about her. Our family is so grateful for the continuing love, support, and prayers for Alexis and our family over the past seven years. While we have been grieving the loss of Alexis since 2013, we remained hopeful that she would be found alive and well.

Alexis was the fashionista, athlete, and joker of our family. We were blessed to have loved her for 17 years, and her memory will continue to live on through all of us. Our family would like to extend a heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude to the citizens of Nelson County, the FBI, the Virginia State Police, the Nelson County Sheriff's Office, and all of the search and rescue teams for your commitment and unwavering support to find Alexis. You all kept the promise made in 2013 to bring Alexis home.

The family added that during this difficult time for everyone to to lift their family up in prayer. And in the words of Alexis, keep hope alive. A memorial service was actually held for Alexis on what would have been her 25th birthday and her Aunt Trina had this to say. My niece was beautiful and humble.

She was abducted from a small rural town in Virginia in the middle of the day with daylight still outside. I hope young people and their parents watching will be more cautious and more aware of their surroundings. Pay close attention to your children. You can never be too careful. And it's true. This can happen to anyone.

Please be careful. You never know who could be watching you or your innocent children. And I love your thoughts on this case like I always do. I think that's all I have for you today. Thank you so very much for watching. I'll see you in my next video. Bye.