EXCLUSIVE: In the years before a missing South Carolina fitness trainer was found dead this week, she told several of her friends that she wanted to leave her now-husband and end the relationship.
Elena Katherine Moore, 39, was found dead Wednesday afternoon in Lexington, South Carolina, the Lexington County Coroner’s Office confirmed Friday after making a positive identification. Moore was last seen leaving a Planet Fitness gym in Lexington on June 11. The body will be transferred to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, who will conduct the autopsy Saturday.
More information is expected on Monday.
Aston Jeffcoat, a close friend of Moore’s, shared a Facebook Messenger screenshot with Fox News Digital from July 13, 2017, in which Moore said she wanted to move out and leave Brannon Slice, who is now her husband.
“Hey girl not sure about ur situation …but just from reading ur post i might be ending my almost 5 year relationship as well and might be looking for a roommate!! Let me know!” Moore wrote.
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It’s unclear why Moore wanted to end the relationship or move out. No one, including her husband, has been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with a crime. Lexington Police Department Inspector Missy Silcox told Newsweek late Tuesday that Slice “is not a person of interest at the current moment.”
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Lauren Beasley, a friend of Moore’s, told Fox News Digital that Moore went through “cycles” of wanting to move out and end the relationship, but didn’t.
“She expressed that she didn’t know what to do, and would say things like ‘I love him’ but then things would be good,” Beasley said. “And I hoped and assumed things had changed. It was definitely a cycle.”
“Cycles of wanting to leave and not,” Beasley said.
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Sondra Campbell, who was close friends with Moore, told Fox News Digital that Moore tried to leave the relationship in the past.
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Campbell previously said that something felt “very different” the last time she saw her on May 31.
“She was scared for her life. She actually said those words to me,” Campbell said. “Elena is one of my best friends. I’ve known her over probably 10 years now. We’re really close like tell each other everything. She’s been that person for me for a long time.”
“Elena was such a good person and I think we’re just all just trying to wrap our head around this, but my friend would not be alone walking at nighttime. She just wouldn’t be, it’s not her,” Campbell added.
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According to LPD Chief Terrence Green, authorities found the body Wednesday after getting a tip that led investigators to a new search location.
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“At approximately 2:48 p.m. we found an unidentified body that fits the clothing description of our missing person. We are still waiting on the coroner to identify her,” Green said.
Moore was last seen walking through the Publix parking lot at 100 Old Cherokee Road in Lexington on the night of June 11.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Slice for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
