In the years before a missing South Carolina fitness trainer was found dead this week, she confided in multiple friends that she wanted to leave her now-husband and end their relationship.
Elena Katherine Moore, 39, was discovered dead Wednesday afternoon in Lexington, South Carolina, the Lexington County Coroner’s Office confirmed Friday after positively identifying her. Moore had last been seen leaving a Planet Fitness location in Lexington on June 11. Officials said her body will be taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where an autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.
Additional details are expected to be released Monday.
Aston Jeffcoat, who described herself as a close friend of Moore’s, provided News Agency with a Facebook Messenger screenshot dated July 13, 2017. In the message, Moore said she was considering moving out and leaving Brannon Slice, who is now her husband.
Elena Moore and her husband, Brannon Slice. (Facebook/Elena Moore)
“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.
It is not clear what prompted Moore to consider ending the relationship or moving out. Authorities have not accused anyone, including her husband, of wrongdoing, and no criminal charges have been filed. Lexington Police Department Inspector Missy Silcox told Newsweek late Tuesday that Slice “is not a person of interest at the current moment.”
Another friend, Lauren Beasley, told News Agency that Moore repeatedly went through “cycles” of wanting to leave the relationship and move out, but ultimately did not.
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.
Elena Katherine Moore, 39, has been missing since she left a 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 News Agency that Moore tried to leave the relationship in the past.
Campbell previously said that something felt “very different” the last time she saw her on May 31.
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A general view of the area in Lexington, S.C., where the body of personal trainer Elena Katherine Moore was found on June 19, 2026. Moore was last seen alive on June 11. (Kat Ramirez for News Agency)
“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.
According to LPD Chief Terrence Green, authorities found the body Wednesday after getting a tip that led investigators to a new search location.
Elena Moore disappeared in Lexington, S.C., on June 11, 2026. (Lexington Police Department)
“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.
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. (Kat Ramirez for News Agency)
Moore was last seen walking through the Publix parking lot at 100 Old Cherokee Road in Lexington on the night of June 11.
News Agency has reached out to Slice for comment.
