Authorities in Capitol Heights, Maryland have concluded the search for a woman who had been missing for the past week. We don’t know what’s more disturbing: the discovery of her remains, or where they were found.
Over the past eight months, Capitol Heights authorities were called to a home on Larchmont Avenue several times to settle a dispute between 30-year-old Devontae Gray and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Alexis Schuler, said Police Chief Darryl Morgan in a press conference. Though there were no arrests made, police said there was evidence to believe their relationship was violent.
The last call was made on Jan. 9 when Gray called 911 on Schuler, requesting protective orders against her. The requests were rejected by the court, according to the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney. But when police arrived to the scene, they say they saw the woman.
“Our first visit in the month of January was on Jan. 9, where we actually saw her driving by the residence when we responded to his call for complaint. So she was alive,” said Chief Morgan.
The following day, Jan. 10, is when Schuler was last seen. Authorities say that day, Gray allegedly contacted another woman whom he had a child with and told her he might be going to jail. A few days later is when family members reported Schuler missing, per WTOP News.
Capitol Heights officers said upon visiting Gray’s home to investigate, they noticed a strange odor. They said they returned again later with a search warrant and what they found was nothing short of disturbing.
“While inside the house, our homicide detectives and evidence team, along with the Prince George’s County Fire Department located Ms. Schuler’s remains inside a newly constructed wall,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said in a press conference.
Officers said they broke through the drywall under the stairwell which was covered by a fake brick wall. Inside was a plastic bin covered in concrete and filled with soil and hay concealing Schuler’s body. As of now, officers believe she was shot and killed by Gray the day after she was last seen.
Police say Gray confessed to shooting her, leaving her three children without a mother. The findings were certainly not what Schuler’s family was hoping for, but they said they still find peace in the conclusion of the heart-wrenching search.
“Although the outcome is not what we had hoped, we take solace in knowing that Alexis has been found, and we now have the closure to lay her to rest in peace. Alexis will be deeply missed, and there is a void in our family that can never be filled. Her three children will no longer feel their mother’s embrace or hear their mother’s voice,” the family said in a statement via WTOP.
Gray has been charged with first-degree murder, according to WUSA.