The Los Angeles Police Department has conducted a new search in connection with the disappearance of Christina Downer nearly a year after she went missing. Downer is the sister of ‘Saturday Night Live’ writer Jimmy Fowlie. 38-year-old Downer was last heard from in December 2025, investigators said. She was last seen in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood.
Shortly after Downer disappeared, Fowlie took to social media to ask for the public’s help finding her sister.
“My sister has been missing and we are worried that she isn’t safe,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Her married name is Downer but she may go by Christina Fowlie.”
SNL cast members, including Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman, re-posted it.
Is Christina Downer alive?
Months later, in April, Fowlie claimed that LAPD investigators had told his family the missing person case involving his sister had become a homicide investigation, and that Downer was “no longer alive.”
Also Read | Who is Alyssa Smith? Woman disappears on trip to Chicago with boyfriend, he returns home alone
“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.”
{{/usCountry}}“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.”
{{/usCountry}}However, LAPD officials disputed this claim. They told KTLA in a statement, “Robbery-Homicide Division continues to investigate the disappearance of Christina Downer. Although the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious, Ms. Downer has not been located, and her case has not been reclassified as a homicide. RHD will diligently investigate this case until a resolution can be reached.”
Fowlie said at the time that the family had reason to believe Downer’s phone and social media accounts may have been compromised in the weeks before she went missing.
“The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact that she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going ‘off the grid,’” he wrote.
Fowlie explained that he shared the update because he believes that whoever is responsible for Downer’s disappearance is trying to “erase her in every possible way.”
“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.”
Latest update
LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman confirmed to SFGATE on Monday, October 12, that on October 9, detectives with the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division conducted a search at a Joshua Tree Airbnb with assistance from Los Angeles Fire Department personnel. Eisenman also did not reveal what led police to the location, whether any evidence was found, or if investigators believe Downer is dead.
Anyone with information about Downer’s whereabouts or disappearance is urged to call the LAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800. During nonbusiness hours or on weekends, please call 1-877-527-3247. You can also submit anonymous tips to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.