
Randy Allen Taylor, 55, found guilty of murder and abduction in connection to Murphy’s disappearance, is serving two life sentences,
according to the News & Advance.
At the time of Murphy’s disappearance, she was a rising senior at Nelson County High School, according to the report.
She was set to be the captain of the school’s volleyball team during her senior season.
Her parents accepted an honorary diploma for her in June 2014.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/19/remains-of-missing-virginia-teen-discovered-after-7-years/
"We were finally able to bring Alexis home," Nelson County Sheriff David Hill said Wednesday. "It just means the world to us."
On Wednesday, new balloons adorned the "missing" sign that sits outside the Lovingston gas station where she was last seen.
"With careful consideration for Alexis' family being paramount, notification to the community was delayed to allow them time to grieve and make proper arrangements," the sheriff's office said online Wednesday.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Trina Murphy, Alexis Murphy's aunt, said the family is not giving interviews at this time but may talk at a later date.
Alexis 'will never be forgotten'
Alexis was a rising senior at Nelson County High School at the time of her disappearance. She played volleyball at the school and was set to be the team's captain during her senior season.
In the days following her disappearance, Alexis' family and the Nelson County community searched for her, distributed flyers with her picture and spread word of her disappearance online. Less than a week after her disappearance, the community held a vigil and prayed she would come home safely.
In the years since her disappearance, hundreds of her classmates, teammates and community members have continued to gather on the anniversary of her disappearance and the community has continued to place flowers, signs and balloons at the gas station where she vanished.
In June 2014, Alexis' parents accepted an honorary high school diploma for her. A few months later, the school dedicated a garden on campus to Alexis.
At the garden's dedication ceremony in October of that year, families of other missing children gathered and shared photos of their loved ones.
“This [school] is a place where Alexis had her hopes and her dreams,” Shawn White, the Virginia coordinator for the CUE Center for Missing Persons said at that event. “It’s now a place where her mother can come to get away and just reflect on happy memories.
“This will keep Alexis’ memory alive.”
The Murphys now annually award an Alexis Murphy Scholarship to one or two Nelson County High School senior girls in honor of their daughter.
In a statement to The News & Advance Wednesday, Nelson County Public Schools Superintendent Martha Eagle said the division was saddened to hear Alexis' remains had been found, but will continue to remember her and her contributions to the school community.
“While we remained hopeful we would be reunited one day, we are relieved that her family can now have some sort of closure. Although Alexis did not have the future any of us would wish for her, she made quite a difference in her young life and made a significant impact on all those who knew her,” Eagle said. “Alexis may be gone, but she will never be forgotten.”
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Savanna McGarry — a classmate, teammate and friend of Alexis' — thanked law enforcement for “never giving up.” McGarry said Alexis' memory will live on.
“After 7.5 years of keeping hope alive, we finally get closure to properly heal,” McGarry wrote. “Here’s to the fifth stage of grief: Acceptance.”
'Finally able to bring Alexis home': After 7 years, missing Nelson County teen's remains found