Ole Miss student is a murder victim, investigators say

LaFayette County deputies found the body of 21-year-old Alexandria Kostial on a routine patrol in Harmontown, Miss., near Sardis Lake on Saturday morning, July 20.

Kostial, nicknamed Ally, was taking summer courses at the University of Mississippi studying marketing, and she expected to complete her undergraduate degree next year. She also taught fitness classes at the school. Kostial was from St. Louis, Mo.

Investigators believe the young woman was the victim of foul play.

“Yesterday, Saturday afternoon, we were visited by the Sunset Hills Police who communicated to us that our beautiful dear Alexandria (Ally) Kostial was the victim of a homicide,” Kostial’s father, Keith, wrote on Facebook.

“You shouldn’t have to bury your kids,” Jim Bob Bromley of Harmontown told WMCA-TV. “Nobody can describe that kind of pain, and it’s forever. It doesn’t go away. It gets better, but it doesn’t go away.”

In addition to the LaFayette County Sheriff’s Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, the University of Mississippi Police Department and the Oxford Police Department are all working to find out what happened and who is responsible for Kostial’s death.

“We are truly saddened by the death of Alexandria Kostial,” the university said in a statement. :Ally was a valued member of our campus community. We extend our deepest sympathy to her family, friends, and classmates and stand ready to support them during this time. We appreciate the work of the Lafayette County Sherriff’s Department and Coroner as they conduct their investigation.”

If you have any information on this case, please contact the LaFayette County Sheriff’s Department at 662-234-6421 or Crime Stoppers at 662-234-8477.