‘Our daughter is coming home’: Alexis Gabe family prepares to lay her to rest

With officials having wrapped up an autopsy and forensic tests, the family of Alexis Gabe can finally lay their daughter to rest.

The remains of the 23-year-old Oakley woman – killed more than a year ago – have now been given to her family, which plans to honor her with both public and private events this month.

“Our daughter is coming home,” Gwyn Gabe wrote on Facebook. “Yes, we’re able to bring her home at last.”

Gabe disappeared on the evening of Jan. 26, 2022, after she left her Oakley home to visit her ex-boyfriend Marshall Curtis Jones in Antioch. Police later determined Marshall killed her, but before they could arrest him at the Seattle-area apartment where he had relocated, he charged at the arresting officers and was fatally shot.

The case drew national attention and a Facebook page to help find Gabe drew nearly 17,000 followers. After many months of searching for her, her partial remains were found in November in a remote area near Plymouth in Amador County and again in January near Amador City, about 10 miles from the first discovery.

Gwyn Gabe, the father of Alexis Gabe, who was murdered on Jan. 26, 2022, in Antioch, dedicates a song, “Smile,” to his wife, Rowena, whom he said has been depressed for months after their daughter’s disappearance, during a celebration of life for her on Jan. 28, 2023, in Oakley. 

Contra Costa County Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell had said last fall that the remains would help his office determine the manner in which Alexis was killed and be able to better assess if others might be charged in the case.

The family meanwhile believes Jones had help from his mother, Alicia Coleman-Clark, following the homicide. Surveillance cameras show that two days after Gabe was killed, Jones placed “several large, heavy garbage bags” at Coleman-Clark’s home, and went with her to get a new phone on Jan. 28, 2022. He later returned to retrieve the bags from the garage while hosting a karaoke party.

Coleman-Clark, who is a special education advocate, was arrested on May 19, 2022, on suspicion of aiding and abetting, but then released when the Contra Costa County District Attorney declined to file any charges at the time.

When contacted, the District Attorney’s Office said it had no new information.

“As of today, our office has not received any formal or informal findings by forensic pathologists regarding the cause of Alexis Gabe’s death,” Ted Asregadoo, District Attorney spokesman, said in an e-mail on Wednesday. “(When received), we will review those findings, and we will inform the Gabe family of those findings and their impact on any filing decision, before we make that decision public.”

This spring, the family worked with a popular American television network to tell their daughter’s story in a documentary. Though Gwyn Gabe said he could not release any details, the film is expected to be released later this summer.

Meanwhile, the Gabes have invited the public to say goodbye during a five-hour memorial at Diablo Valley Cremation & Funeral Services in Concord from 3 to 8 p.m. June 17. Gabe’s remains will be held in a sealed cremation casket and there will be no service other than a Mass at 6 p.m., the family said.

In January the family held a celebration of life in Oakley, and this final service will give those unable to attend back then a chance to say goodbye, the family said.

The public is also invited to follow the funeral procession from the chapel to Castro Valley Crematory beginning at 1:30 p.m. on June 19, but only the Gabe family will be allowed inside the crematorium.

“We would like Alexis all to ourselves on her final day,” Gwyn Gabe wrote. “We hope you understand.”

Check back for updates.