Northern Kentucky University’s spring commencement looked different this year. Before anyone walked the stage, the university’s provost held a moment of silence for Murry Foust, who has been missing since April 27.
“Murry, we hope to see you soon,” said NKU Provost Diana McGill, “so we can hand you the diploma you have earned.”
Foust, 22, was set to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts May 9. They were last seen in the Latonia neighborhood of Covington. At this time, the Covington Police Department does not have evidence confirming if Murry is still in Covington, spokesperson Justin Bradbury said.
Bee Wang, 25, met Foust at the end of last summer at a Trans-Masc Cincy event.
After the event, the two sat in Wang’s car talking for hours. Wang told Foust about wanting to carve a queer future in religion, he said. Foust was attending a Spanish-speaking church at the time and had lots of questions.
“It was really cool to find another queer person who was open and wanting to talk deeply about spirituality with me,” Wang said.
The two had made plans to do drag and art together when they were freer from their studies, but the last time they saw each other was at Foust’s senior art exhibit.
“They are a light to the community … if I had to sum it up,” Wang said.
Wang has been posting videos to his Instagram titled “Art for Murry,” where he talks about Murry and creates art. In his first video, he crafted a little Mothman from clay that Murry previously gifted him and talked about processing loss.
Murry and Wang both love Mothman, a humanoid creature from American folklore. Foust featured little Mothmans in their art exhibit, Wang said.
“They make you feel like they’re thrilled to be in your presence, and it makes you feel thrilled to be in their presence,” Wang said.
Bradbury told The Enquirer that police are not done searching and that the investigation is ongoing.
Volunteer-based search organization EquuSearch Midwest has helped police. Although the nonprofit started as a team that used horses to search through wooded and hilly terrain, EquusSearch now uses other means and advanced technology.
The department has also worked closely with Boone County Water Rescue, Bradbury said. As part of the investigation, officers have extensively searched the Licking River.
Privately organized search groups are free to search for Murry, but those efforts are separate from those of Covington police, Bradbury said.
Police are asking people in certain parts of Covington to check their home and business security camera footage from April 27 between 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.
If you live in the area or work in Covington from Summit Drive to East 36th Street to East Southern Avenue or the area just under East 32nd Street to the dead end of 34th street and the woods surrounding that area, check your security cameras, police asked. Even small details could be important.
If you find anything on the footage, send it to marcus.jordan@covingtonky.gov or call 859-292-2234 and leave your name, location and a good time to pick up the footage or for a call back.
‘Preparing myself for the worst’
Murry is a transgender man early in the process of transitioning, according to a Facebook post from his friend Charlie King.
Wang, also a transgender man, said he’s been numb waiting for Murry to return. The local trans community, even people who don’t know Murry personally, is in a lot of pain waiting for his return, Wang said. “When you’re in this community, you’re really in an unspoken found family,” he said.
“You want to keep hope but knowing the statistics and also the history with trans individuals, I’m preparing myself for the worst,” he said.
Transgender people have a higher risk of homicide than those who are cisgender, studies show. Between 2013 and 2024, 372 transgender and nonbinary people died by homicide, according to a report from the Human Rights Campaign. Gender identity was added as a category to the FBI’s hate crime reporting in 2013.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds, according to an article from the Trevor Project. LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.
Throughout 2024, 36% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide, including almost half of transgender and nonbinary youth, according to the Trevor Project’s U.S. National Survey of Mental Health.
In 2024, 11% of transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide.
How to help
Murry is White with black dyed shoulder length hair with choppy bangs. They have brown eyes and are 5’7″. Murry has some tattoos including a geometric striped pattern on their elbow, a ram skull on their upper arm, and a depiction of a crucified Jesus Christ on one of their shins.
Photos of surveillance footage that Covington police made public show that on the day they went missing, Foust was wearing an oversized dark jacket with a dark T-shirt and loose pants with a polka-dot pattern that appears to be brown.
Murry’s car was found a block from their apartment in Latonia off of Decoursey Avenue, according to King. Their bag was located at NKU. Police found Murry’s cell phone in his apartment, King said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Search for Murry Foust, NKU student missing since April, continues
Reporting by Gillian Stawiszynski, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
