Flight Attendant's Body Found Over a Year After Being Strangled by Roommate
DNA evidence confirmed the remains of Rana Nofal Soluri, who was reported missing in June 2025, more than a year after she was allegedly killed by Dennis William Day.
The remains of a flight attendant, Rana Nofal Soluri, have been identified more than a year after she was allegedly strangled to death by her roommate. Soluri, 47, was reported missing in June 2025, but investigators believe she was killed in March of that year by Dennis William Day, 66.
Day was charged with murder last year after allegedly confessing to strangling Soluri in the kitchen of their Fort Worth, Texas, home. He is accused of then transporting her body about 65 miles northwest and discarding it off a bridge near Bowie. Soluri was last seen in March 2025 after taking a leave from her job with Envoy Air, a regional carrier for American Airlines, to recover from minor surgery. She was expected to return to work by the end of the month but never did. Alarmed by her prolonged absence and uncharacteristic silence, concerned coworkers reported her missing in June 2025.
Investigators searched creeks and bridges near Bowie following Day's alleged confession, but Soluri's remains were not found. Authorities at the time suggested that rain and flooding may have carried her remains downstream. However, in June of the current year, a fisherman discovered a woman's body on the bank of a creek below a bridge in the Bowie area. Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Tom O’Brien informed the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that a DNA analysis conducted by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification recently confirmed the remains as Soluri's.
The detective noted that Soluri's body may have been obscured by mud during the initial police search, as officers had investigated the area where she was eventually found. Prior to the identification of Soluri's remains, Day reportedly bragged to fellow inmates that he could not be convicted of murder if her body could not be located. He has been in custody since his arrest last year, held on a $200,000 bond.
According to investigators, Day told police that an argument ensued after Soluri filmed him acting irate. He allegedly stated that he panicked and strangled her with his bare hands when she threatened to call 911, resulting in her death on the kitchen floor. Surveillance footage recovered by police appears to show Day dragging a lifeless body into the backyard late on the night of March 21, 2025. He allegedly disposed of her phone in a river and her gun in a storm drain.
Court documents indicate that Day sought assistance from his friend, Joanne Walters, 62, shortly after the murder. Walters allegedly arrived in her pickup truck, and together they transported Soluri's body. Walters initially denied any involvement, claiming she had not lent Day her truck. She later changed her story, stating that Day had used the truck but that she was asleep during the trip. She claimed to have believed he had stopped only to urinate when they paused on a bridge. Authorities, however, were unconvinced and discovered a voicemail on Walters' phone, reportedly an accidental butt dial, which contained a male voice believed to be Day's saying, 'Hey… help me,' 'Make sure the lid's on,' and 'I'm sorry I got you messed up in this.' The audio also captured sounds of two individuals struggling to move a heavy object, which police believe was Soluri's body.
Cell phone records showed that both Day and Walters left their devices at Day's house before traveling to Bowie, an attempt police described as a deliberate effort to mislead law enforcement and create a false alibi. Walters was arrested in August 2025 for tampering with evidence but was later released on a $100,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on October 28 for a plea deal offer. Day's next court appearance is scheduled for October 7, where he will also have the opportunity to consider a plea deal.
