By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The discovery of a missing Buckhead woman's body has given her mother and stepfather some closure, the couple said Thursday.

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Alexis Stevens, Alexis Stevens Stacey English's stepfather, Kevin Jamison, consoles her mother, Cindy, at the family's Clayton County home Thursday afternoon. The Jamison's believe English, whose body was found earlier this week, was the victim of foul play.

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But now, they want to know what led to the death of Stacey Nicole English.

"There's no doubt in my mind that there had to be some foul play," Cindy Jamison, English's mother, said in her Clayton County home.

Jamison, her husband Kevin and the family's attorney, Ricky Morris, met with reporters Thursday, one day after the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said the 36-year-old's cause of death could not be determined in the initial autopsy.

It could be several weeks before the results of additional testing are released.

English's body, discovered Monday in the divot of an uprooted tree off St. Johns Avenue near the Lakewood Amphitheatre, was in an advanced state of decomposition. Nearly a month earlier, her Volvo had been found, with the engine running, less than a mile away.

Kevin Jamison said when he last spoke with his stepdaughter Christmas night, she was her cheerful and jovial self.

"She was awesome," he said.

Robert Kirk, one of English's friends, is believed to have been the last person to see her alive. He was visiting English from St. Louis, and says the woman asked him to leave her Lenox Road condominium Dec. 26, according to police.

Atlanta police have said there is no evidence linking Kirk to English's disappearance and death.

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said officers have not ruled out the possibility of foul play and will continue to investigate the death.

The Jamisons have hired a private investigator. They said they would continue to cooperate fully with the police investigation.

According to documents previously released by police, English's mother told investigators her daughter had attempted suicide nearly three years ago.

But family members and their attorney insisted Thursday that they believe the woman did not try to harm herself.

Morris said he knew English personally, and that she would have never willingly gone to the part of town where her car and body were found.

"There's no way on God's green Earth that something happened of her own doing," Morris said. "This should be treated as a homicide. Stacey's killer or killers need to be brought to justice swiftly."

The Jamisons said they are planning to have a homegoing celebration honoring English on Feb. 4. The details have not yet been made final.