Jimmy Fowlie, a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live, announced on Instagram on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, that his sister Christina Lynn Downer is dead.
The LAPD has informed his family that the case has transitioned from a missing persons investigation to a homicide investigation. Downer was 38 years old. She had been missing for more than four months.
“The LAPD has informed our family that Christina is no longer alive, and the case has officially transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation,” Fowlie wrote. “Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable.”
No arrests have been announced. The LAPD did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.
How Long Has The Search Been Going On?
Christina Downer was last heard from directly by her brother on November 26, 2025. The last time anyone spoke to her by phone was October 5.
Texts from her phone continued appearing through December, and her social media account showed activity until approximately December 15, 2025.
On December 22, Fowlie posted a missing person flyer to his Instagram account asking his followers for help, providing the LAPD’s tip line and her case number.
At that point, Fowlie wrote:
“My sister has been missing and we are worried that she isn’t safe. Her married name is Downer but she may go by Christina Fowlie. Please share this so that if anyone has seen her, they can give any information to the police.”
In a follow-up post on December 23, he described his sister as very attached to her dog Rex and shared that she had no history of mental illness and had not previously dropped off the grid.
On January 9, he shared a family video, continuing to ask for information. For four months he kept posting, kept asking, kept hoping.
Wednesday’s post ended that hope.
What Does Fowlie Think Happened?
In announcing his sister’s death, Fowlie shared what he believes the investigation has revealed about the circumstances of her disappearance.
He said the family has reason to believe that in the weeks before she went missing, Downer’s phone and social media accounts were compromised, meaning someone other than Downer had control of them.
“The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going ‘off the grid,'” he wrote. “I am sharing this because I believe that whoever is responsible is hoping to erase her in every way possible.”
This would explain the pattern that Fowlie had described in his earlier posts, texts and social media activity continuing for weeks after the last time anyone had actually spoken to her directly.
It also explains why the case took as long as it did to transition to a homicide investigation.
If someone was actively managing Downer’s phone and accounts to simulate her presence and discourage alarm, the window during which a missing persons investigation could have moved quickly may have been deliberately obscured.
Fowlie said he believes someone with information about what happened may be weighing whether to come forward. “I also believe there is a chance that someone who knows something might find the courage to step forward,” he wrote. “My sister can no longer advocate for herself, but I can and I hope you will too. The best way you could support me in this moment is to share this post and to talk about her story.”
He added that he would be stepping back from social media following the announcement, asking that any information be provided directly to the LAPD.
Who Was Christina Downer?
Christina Lynn Downer was 38 years old at the time of her disappearance. She was approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed around 120 pounds, and had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.
She was known by both her married name, Downer, and by Christina Fowlie. She was last seen in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.
She was, in the way that missing person cases sometimes illuminate lives only through absence, a person her brother had been publicly describing for four months in the hope that someone somewhere would recognize her.
The dog she loved. Her voice on a phone call in October. The social media posts that kept appearing after she was already gone.
The photographs Fowlie shared, her face over the years, the two siblings together, the visible life of someone who had people who were looking for her.
Who Is Jimmy Fowlie?
Fowlie, 40, has been on the writing staff of Saturday Night Live since Season 48 in 2022.
He co-wrote the show’s viral “Domingo” sketches and also works as a performer and actor, with credits including Search Party, English Teacher and The Other Two, for which he also wrote.
He is also a co-writer on the Netflix comedy Roommates.
When he first announced his sister was missing in December, several of his SNL colleagues amplified the plea on their own platforms.
Kenan Thompson, Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman and Heidi Gardner all shared his posts asking for information about Downer’s whereabouts.
The creative community around the show rallied for months while the search continued.
What’s Next?
The LAPD is treating the case as a homicide investigation. No arrests have been announced. No suspect has been publicly named.
The case number remains 25237639 and the tip line is 213-996-1800. Fowlie has asked anyone with information to contact the LAPD directly rather than reaching out to him personally.
The transition from missing persons to homicide is a significant investigative step, it changes the resources applied to the case, the units involved, and the legal framework under which investigators can operate.
It does not mean Downer’s remains have been located. The LAPD confirmed to the family that she is no longer alive; the specific details of what investigators have and what they know are not public.
Fowlie asked his followers to share his post and keep talking about his sister’s story, in the belief that visibility is the best tool available for encouraging anyone with knowledge of what happened to come forward.
“Thank you,” he wrote at the end of the post. He then said he was stepping away from social media.
