Dennis Day was indicted in Rana Soluri’s death before DNA testing confirmed that remains found near Bowie belonged to the flight attendant.
FORT WORTH, Texas — The identification of missing flight attendant Rana Nofal Soluri’s remains has added a significant piece of physical evidence to a pending murder case that prosecutors had pursued for more than a year without recovering her body.
Dennis Day, Soluri’s longtime friend and former roommate, is charged with murder in her death. Police have said Day admitted strangling Soluri in their Fort Worth home and later told investigators where he disposed of her body. Human remains found by a fisherman in Montague County in June were subsequently confirmed through DNA testing to be Soluri’s.
The case began as a missing-person investigation after a coworker reported Soluri, 47, missing on June 11, 2025. She had not been heard from since March, and investigators determined she was last seen alive March 21. Soluri worked for Envoy Air, an American Airlines regional carrier, and had been living with Day for about a year.
Investigators developed evidence at the Fort Worth residence before Soluri’s remains had been located. According to an arrest affidavit, police recovered surveillance footage dated March 21 showing Day dragging what appeared to be a lifeless body from the home into the backyard. Authorities said Day later acknowledged killing Soluri during a confrontation and disconnecting surveillance equipment after realizing he had been recorded.
Day told investigators he moved Soluri’s body from the house and transported it to the Bowie area, according to court records and police accounts. Detectives searched locations he identified but did not initially find her. Law enforcement officials noted that creeks in the region had flooded several times, raising the possibility that remains had moved or been obscured.
Despite the absence of a recovered body, the criminal investigation continued. Day was arrested in June 2025 and later indicted on a murder charge. A subsequent court filing said Day had told people while jailed that he believed he could not be convicted if Soluri’s body was never found, according to published reports describing the prosecution’s filing.
Investigators also accused another person of helping dispose of Soluri’s body. Joanne Walters, also identified in court reporting as Joni Thomas, was arrested in 2025 and accused of tampering with evidence. Police alleged that she assisted Day after Soluri’s death. The allegation against Walters remains pending and has not been proven in court.
The search for Soluri took a major turn June 13, 2026, when a fisherman found human remains along Brushy Creek near FM 1749 in Montague County. Deputies secured the area, and forensic specialists assisted with the recovery. The remains were sent for analysis at the University of North Texas, where DNA testing confirmed Soluri’s identity.
The identification connects the recovered remains directly to a prosecution that had previously relied on other evidence, including Day’s statements to investigators, surveillance footage and evidence gathered during the broader investigation. It also resolves uncertainty about whether Soluri’s body would ever be located after earlier searches of the Bowie area failed.
Day remains jailed in Tarrant County on a $200,000 bond as the murder case proceeds. He has not been convicted, and the charge against him remains an allegation unless proved in court. Soluri’s remains have been returned to her family for burial arrangements.
Author note: Last updated October 6, 2026.