Jimmy Fowlie, a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live with direct ties to West Hollywood, posted on Instagram Wednesday that his sister Christina Lynn Downer is dead and that the LAPD has opened a homicide investigation. The LAPD is telling a different story.
In a statement to Newsweek, the department said Downer has not been located and that her case has not been reclassified as a homicide. “Although the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious, Ms. Downer has not been located, and her case has not been reclassified as a homicide,” the LAPD said. “RHD will diligently investigate this case until a resolution can be reached.”
Fowlie wrote on Instagram that the LAPD informed his family directly. “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,” he 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.”
It is not clear how the family and the department are describing the same investigation so differently. The LAPD did not explain the discrepancy.
What that leaves is a family in agony, waiting for answers that have not come in more than four months, now publicly contradicted by the agency they are depending on to find out what happened to her.
Downer had been missing for more than four months. Fowlie first disclosed her disappearance just before Christmas. WEHOonline covered his request for help in December, asking anyone in West Hollywood who spotted her flyer — online or around the neighborhood — to call police.
Her last documented contact was November 26, 2025. Her last known location was the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.
What the Family Says Happened
Fowlie said the family has reason to believe Downer’s phone and social media accounts were compromised in the weeks before she disappeared. He said whoever had her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to solicit money from people in her life, and to push a false story that she had chosen to go “off the grid.”
No arrests have been announced. The LAPD has not disclosed the cause or circumstances of her disappearance.
Who Christina Downer Is
Christina Lynn Downer is 38 years old. She also goes by Christina Fowlie. The LAPD describes her as 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing approximately 115 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has an “XTINA” tattoo on her neck and a hummingbird tattoo on her left wrist.
Fowlie shared a collection of photographs of his sister in Wednesday’s post, including childhood pictures of the two of them together. He said he is stepping back from social media following the announcement and asked that anyone with information contact the LAPD directly, not him.
Jimmy Fowlie and West Hollywood
Fowlie joined Saturday Night Live as a writer at the start of Season 48 in 2022. He is also a performer, with credits on Search Party, English Teacher, and The Other Two, for which he also wrote. He co-writes the Netflix comedy Roommates and co-wrote the show’s viral “Domingo” sketches.
Fowlie has talked openly about living in West Hollywood. His comedy work has drawn directly from the West Hollywood club world. WEHOonline covered his West Hollywood-based “Go Go Boy Interrupted” days back in 2014.
SNL cast members Sarah Sherman and Bowen Yang were among those who shared her missing persons information when Fowlie first went public in December.
Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800 and reference case number 25237639. Anonymous tips can go to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Jimmy’s full post:
“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. 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. We have reason to believe that in the weeks before she went missing, her phone and social media were compromised. 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.’ I am sharing this because I believe that whoever is responsible is hoping to erase her in every way possible. I want to amplify her story in the only way I know how. And to express that she was a beautiful person who matters in this world, especially to me. I also believe there is a chance that someone who knows something might find the courage to step forward. 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.”
