The SC fitness coach told friends she wanted to leave her husband before the body was found
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INTERMEDIATE: Years before a missing South Carolina gymnast was found this week, she told several 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 identifying her. Moore was last seen leaving the Planet Fitness gym in Lexington on June 11. The body will be transferred to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, which will perform an autopsy on 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, where Moore said she wanted out and left Brannon Slice, who is now her husband.
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Elena Moore and her husband, Brannon Slice. (Facebook/Elena Moore)
“Hey girl not sure about ur situation …but just reading your post I might be ending my relationship of almost 5 years and I might be looking for a roommate!! Let me know!” Moore wrote.
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It is unclear why Moore wants to end the relationship or move out. No one, including her husband, has ever been accused of wrongdoing or charged with a crime. Lexington Police Department Detective Missy Silcox told Newsweek late Tuesday that Slice is “not a person of interest at this time.”
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Lauren Beasley, a friend of Moore’s, told Fox News Digital that Moore went through “cycles” of wanting to get out and end the relationship, but never did.
WATCH: The location where Elena Katherine Moore’s body was found
“He expressed that he didn’t know what to do, and he was saying things like ‘I love him’ but things are going to be okay,” Beasley said. “And I hoped and thought that things had changed. It was definitely a cycle.”
“The cycles of wanting to go are not,” Beasley said.
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Elena Katherine Moore, 39, has been missing since she left the Planet Fitness gym in Lexington, South Carolina, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, according to the Lexington Police Department. (Lexington Police Department)
Sondra Campbell, who was close friends with Moore, told Fox News Digital that Moore tried to leave the relationship earlier.
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Campbell previously said something felt “very different” when he last saw her on May 31.
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A general view of the site in Lexington, SC, where the body of personal trainer Elena Katherine Moore was found on June 19, 2026. Moore was last seen alive on June 11. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
“He was afraid for his life. He actually said those words to me,” Campbell said. “Elena you are one of my best friends. I have known him for almost 10 years now. We are very close and we tell each other everything. He’s been that person to me for a long time.”
“Elena was a good person and I think we’re all just trying to wrap our heads around this, but my friend wouldn’t be out walking alone at night. She just wouldn’t, she’s not,” added Campbell.
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According to LPD Chief Terrence Green, authorities found the body Wednesday after receiving a tip that led investigators to a new search area.
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Elena Moore disappeared from Lexington, SC, on June 11, 2026. (Lexington Police Department)
“Around 2:48 p.m. we found an unidentified body that fits the description of the property of a missing person. We are still waiting for the investigator to identify him,” said Green.
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The body of South Carolina personal trainer Elena Katherine Moore was found in Lexington on June 19, 2026. She was last seen alive on June 11. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
Moore was last seen walking in 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.
