'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAIAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABf/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAxSaCK//EACAQAAEEAgEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQSAAUGEVNhYtL/2gAIAQEAAT8AhcNbRR6RuNbJbABcabWtVfU16WI8Y7qIAdWAuOAD3D95/8QAGREAAwADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDAAQS/9oACAECAQE/AJbFnJ6bP//EABgRAAMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAR/9oACAEDAQE/AGhNVHBv/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The disappearance of Martre Coles led to a difficult investigation by the Henrico County authorities who had decided to keep the discovery of his body a secret from his immediate family. Martre had received a false email from Full Sail University and disappeared the day he was scheduled to visit the campus.
Per an Oxygen report, Martre's stepmother, Denise Gay, had falsified the email to get rid of him as he reminded her of his mother. Martre's body was found almost a month later in a plastic container five miles away from his Highland Springs home.
The Investigation Discovery special, Twisted Cover Up, looks into Martre Coles' murder as it airs on May 25, 2024, at 10 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis reads,
Trending
"Coles asks Denise Gay to move in with him even though family members oppose this arrangement."
Who was Martre Coles? Details explored
Martre Lamonte Coles was born on October 22, 1997 to Carina J. Harold Coles and Maurice Coles. Martre was 16 when his mother, Carina, passed away due to hip surgery complications. Coles grew up with two of his sisters, Michelle and Marqweisha, and another brother, Maurice II.
Martre Coles struggled with depression after his mother's passing and his grief was complicated by his father's co-worker turned girlfriend, Denise Gay, moving in with the family soon after. Denise moved in with her 9-year-old daughter, Alana. Coles had graduated from Springs High School and had been building his art portfolio.
Martre Coles aspired to be an artist and wanted to design video games as a career. He was elated to have received an opportunity from the art and design program at the prestigious Full Sail University in Florida and looked at the occasion as his ticket out of Highland Springs.
What happened to Martre Coles?
The 19-year-old resident of Virginia's Henrico, Martre Coles, went missing on March 12, 2017 - the day he was scheduled to leave for college. Coles had allegedly received an invitation from Full Sail University to display his art at their exhibition and explore his options in the school.
As part of the application procedure, Martre was required to design a plaster face mask for which Denise and her elder daughter, LaToya, helped. Martre shared a strained relationship with his father who was rather indifferent to his disappearance.
According to Oxygen, Martre Coles was headed to the bus station on March 12 but was never heard from since. His girlfriend, Ashlyn Knight, along with his sisters, Michelle and Marqweisha, started to worry about his lack of contact and searched for him in his usual spots. Maurice Coles, however, assumed that his son had been on a personal trip and would be back in a few days.
Martre's sisters reported him missing subsequently. According to WTVR, a workman, Larry Anderson, found a plastic storage bin with sneakers hanging out of it during his walk through the woods near an industrial park in Henrico's East End on April 2, 2017. He further shared,
“I lifted the lid up and the young man was inside. Just folded up like a cradled baby."
Anderson matched the description of the boy inside the container with the missing person's flyer on Facebook and alerted the authorities. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia. Additionally, the state medical examiner’s office found traces of Trazadone and GHB in his system.
The investigators from the Henrico County Sheriff's Office found reasons to suspect a family member owing to a 911 call made on March 31 from the Coles residence. Alana had made the call and initially appeared defensive till the officers probed further. She then confessed to seeing her mother and elder sister kill her step-brother.
The officers decided to leave the family in the dark as they investigated the case as a murder. They found Denise's criminal record and monitored the location where Martre's body was discovered to find Denise Gay's visit one day.
Besides, the authorities successfully connected Denise to the drugs and forgery of the admission offer. Denise Gay was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison while LaToya received 30 years in prison.
Watch the true crime drama as it airs on Investigation Discovery on Saturday.
