{
  "id": "2019-10-30-clark-atlanta-university-alexis-crawford-missing-student",
  "slug": "clark-atlanta-university-alexis-crawford-missing-student-2019-10-30",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Clark Atlanta University",
    "shortName": "CAU",
    "state": "GA",
    "type": "hbcu",
    "enrollment": 3500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2019-10-30",
    "endDate": "2019-11-08",
    "type": "missing-person",
    "cleryCategory": "missing-student",
    "headline": "Missing student found dead; roommate and roommate's boyfriend charged with murder",
    "headlinePublic": "Missing student found dead; roommate and roommate's boyfriend charged with murder",
    "summary": "[Clark Atlanta University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Atlanta_University) senior Alexis Crawford, 21, was [last seen at her off-campus apartment on October 30, 2019](https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/alexis-crawford-missing-clark-atlanta-university-what-we-know/85-3ce97a35-5cfa-44ac-8355-ab88f9fcbded) and reported missing by her family on November 1. CAU coordinated with Atlanta Police Department on a HEOA missing-student notification. [Her body was found in a DeKalb County park on November 8](https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/update-alexis-crawford/85-5615655c-fd0b-43fa-8bba-d881181d33e9); her roommate Jordyn Jones and Jones' boyfriend Barron Brantley were charged with murder. The case became a national symbol of intimate-partner violence risks facing HBCU students.",
    "outcome": "Body found in Intrenchment Creek Park, DeKalb County, Georgia, on November 8, 2019. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death asphyxiation. Jordyn Jones and Barron Brantley were arrested and later indicted on murder charges. As of 2026 the case remained pending, with neither defendant yet tried.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "November 1-2, 2019, after Crawford's family filed a missing-person report with Atlanta Police",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from 11Alive, CNN, and NewsOne coverage of the initial CAU missing-student notification in early November 2019",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "November 8-9, 2019, after Crawford's body was found and arrest warrants issued for Jones and Brantley",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Panther Family, we are devastated by the tragic reports regarding our own Alexis Crawford. Investigators say this was an isolated, off-campus incident and there was never a threat to any other members of the community. We are here for you. Additional counselors have been made available on campus. Clark Atlanta University stands with Alexis's family as they grieve this terrible loss. We ask that all members of our campus community look after one another and seek support if needed.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/update-alexis-crawford/85-5615655c-fd0b-43fa-8bba-d881181d33e9",
      "sourceDescription": "CAU community message quoted in 11Alive reporting on November 8, 2019",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim from the CAU community communication quoted by 11Alive on November 8, 2019 confirming Crawford's death",
        "President French's statement 'this was an isolated, off-campus incident and there was never a threat to any other members of the community' is consistent with Clery Act guidance that post-incident notifications should calibrate whether a continuing threat exists",
        "The 'Panther Family' salutation is CAU's standard community-address form, confirming institutional authorship of this communication"
      ],
      "characterCount": 484
    }
  ],
  "context": "Alexis Crawford was a 21-year-old [Clark Atlanta University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Atlanta_University) senior from Maryland who lived off-campus. She was last seen by her roommate, Jordyn Jones, on the evening of October 30, 2019, after asking Jones to take her to a liquor store at around 11:30 PM EDT. Her family, unable to reach her for several days, [filed a missing-person report with Atlanta Police on November 1](https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/05/us/missing-clark-atlanta-univeristy-student/index.html). CAU coordinated with Atlanta Police and amplified the search publicly. [On November 8, Atlanta Police announced that her body had been found in Intrenchment Creek Park in DeKalb County](https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/update-alexis-crawford/85-5615655c-fd0b-43fa-8bba-d881181d33e9) -- a week after she was reported missing. Jones and her boyfriend Barron Brantley were arrested and indicted on murder charges; a medical examiner determined Crawford died from asphyxiation. As of 2026 the case remained pending and neither defendant had been tried. The case drew national attention to intimate-partner violence risks at HBCUs and [generated widespread media coverage](https://newsone.com/3892607/where-is-alexis-crawford-everything-to-know-about-missing-hbcu-student/) of the disparity in attention given to missing Black women versus white women in national media -- a recurring theme in HBCU missing-student cases following the Jelani Day and Latasha Norman precedents.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Crawford's off-campus residence illustrates the boundary of HEOA's formal missing-student mandate: the law's notification requirements primarily cover on-campus housing residents, but institutions can and do voluntarily extend cooperation to off-campus students",
    "The two people charged were Crawford's roommate and the roommate's boyfriend, an intimate-campus-network profile that differs structurally from stranger-abduction scenarios",
    "CAU's calibrated post-discovery communication ('isolated, off-campus incident, no continuing threat') demonstrates appropriate post-incident Clery messaging to prevent campus-wide fear while acknowledging community grief",
    "The case became a focal point in national discourse about missing Black women and the disparity in media attention compared to high-profile white missing-person cases"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Clark Atlanta student missing: Alexis Crawford (11Alive)",
      "url": "https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/alexis-crawford-missing-clark-atlanta-university-what-we-know/85-3ce97a35-5cfa-44ac-8355-ab88f9fcbded",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Missing Clark Atlanta student Alexis Crawford found dead (11Alive)",
      "url": "https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/update-alexis-crawford/85-5615655c-fd0b-43fa-8bba-d881181d33e9",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police are searching for a missing Clark Atlanta University student (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/05/us/missing-clark-atlanta-univeristy-student/index.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Missing Clark Atlanta student Alexis Crawford found dead, roommate charged (NBC News)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missing-clark-atlanta-student-alexis-crawford-found-dead-roommate-sought-n1079166",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Where Is Alexis Crawford? Everything To Know About Missing HBCU Student (NewsOne)",
      "url": "https://newsone.com/3892607/where-is-alexis-crawford-everything-to-know-about-missing-hbcu-student/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "missing-student",
    "missing-person",
    "hbcu",
    "georgia",
    "off-campus",
    "intimate-partner-violence",
    "homicide",
    "race-equity",
    "media-coverage"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}