Art scholarship to be established for trans student found dead after month-long search
Northern Kentucky University student Murry Foust (Covington Police Department)
Friends, loved ones, and community members are mourning the death of Murry Foust, a 22-year-old trans man and student at Northern Kentucky University, whose body was found on Sunday night after a month-long search.
“While our hearts are broken and this is not the outcome we were hoping for, we can only pray that finding them provides closure and comfort to everyone who is hurting,” Foust’s family wrote in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday, May 26.
Foust, who used he/they pronouns, was last seen alive on April 27, captured on security footage in Covington, Kentucky’s Latonia neighbourhood.
After nearly a month, an independent search party found his body on May 24 near an industrial area in Wilder, Kentucky, across the Licking River from Latonia.
The Covington Police Department said they do not currently suspect foul play, but a coroner’s report has yet to be released.
In honour of Foust’s memory, his family announced they are establishing an art scholarship fund. “We are establishing an art scholarship fund in their name to honour their love of art,” the post reads. “Any donations or proceeds from the sale of Murry’s work will be used to support other art students in the community.”
In the comments of the family’s post, friends have begun sharing their favourite memories of Foust.
“Murry was one of my first friends I made in college, and helped me feel so much more comfortable about myself,” one friend wrote.
“I saw them a day or two before they had went missing and they were so sweet. I had dressed extra nice that day and they went and complimented me in detail for about 5 minutes straight… They were a big inspiration in my art and I strived to be more like them and try to pour more of my soul into each of my creations as they did.”
Foust was a senior majoring in fine arts at NKU and was scheduled to graduate on May 8. His art is scheduled to be shown at the Cincinnati Art Museum’s “Art After Dark” series on May 29
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