Alexis Sharkey, whose body was found on the side of a Houston road after she was reported missing, died of strangulation, according to the medical examiner.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences revealed the cause of death on Tuesday, nearly two months after the Instagram influencer was found dead near a section of Interstate 10, roughly 17 miles west of downtown Houston.
The manner of death was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner's report states.
Sharkey, who also went by the last name Robinault, went missing just after Thanksgiving. According to NBC affiliate KPRC-TV, Sharkey's mother said she learned the news after receiving a phone call from her daughter's husband and friends.
“One friend said, ‘I ran over to her apartment and she’s not there, and we were supposed to meet up,’” Stacy Clark Robinault told the outlet. “When you start to hear these stories and you just know that’s not right, something’s wrong."
The influencer was found dead on Nov. 28. Detectives said she was discovered naked on a road a few miles from her apartment by a sanitation worker, KPRC reports.
Sharkey, who was popular on Instagram, moved to Houston last January shortly after she got married, Stacy Clark Robinault previously told NBC News. During one of the last phone conversations they had, the two made plans to spend Christmas together.
“We were greatly looking forward to this Christmas," she said. "She was trying to book flights.”
Stacy Clark Robinault said dealing with her daughter's death has not been easy, but the mysterious circumstances around it have made things that much more difficult.
"In the way in which she was discovered, there was no accident in that whatsoever," she said. "I absolutely believe that she was murdered."
So far, police have not made any arrests in Sharkey's death. Stacy Clark Robinault urged anyone who may have information to come forward “so this can be solved so she can have that justice."
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.