A Texas woman has been arrested for allegedly helping a man dispose of a flight attendant’s body after a voicemail left via an accidental butt dial captured the pair discussing the cover-up.
Joni Thomas, 62, is charged with tampering with evidence in the presumed murder of 47-year-old Rana Nofal Soluri who was reported missing in June but is believed to have been killed in March.
Investigators say Thomas used her pickup truck to help the accused killer, Dennis William Day, 66, transport and dump Soluri’s body off a bridge in Bowie, Texas.
Key evidence in the case includes a voicemail discovered on Thomas’ phone in which a man can be heard saying, ‘Hey… help me,’ ‘Make sure the lid’s on,’ and ‘I’m sorry I got you messed up in this,’ according to a criminal complaint.
Day, Soluri’s roommate, was charged with murder earlier this year after allegedly confessing to strangling her in the kitchen of their Fort Worth home.
Six months on, Soluri’s body has not been found. She was last seen in March after taking a brief leave from her job with Envoy Air, a regional carrier under American Airlines.
She had been recovering from minor surgery and was due to return by the end of the month but never showed up.
Concerned coworkers, alarmed by her uncharacteristic silence and sudden absence, eventually reported her missing in June.
Rana Nofal Soluri, 47, a flight attendant, was reported missing in June but is believed to have been killed in March
Dennis William Day, 66, a longtime friend of Soluri’s is accused of transporting and dumping Soluri’s body off a bridge in Bowie, Texas while Joni Thomas, 62, (right) is charged with tampering with evidence in the case
Day, a longtime friend of Soluri, told police how the pair had a fight after she had filmed him acting irate. When she threatened to call 911, he panicked and snapped.
The affidavit says he admitted to choking her with his bare hands until she died on the kitchen floor in March.
Surveillance footage recovered by police shows what appeared to be Day dragging a lifeless body into the backyard late on the night of March 21.
After dumping the body, Day threw her phone into the river and later disposed of her gun in a storm drain beneath I-35 and Pharr Street.
Investigators eventually recovered the weapon, but not the victim’s remains.
Despite searches of creeks and bridges near Bowie, no trace of Soluri has been found. Rain and flooding may have swept her remains downstream, authorities said.
Police only uncovered the surveillance footage when they searched Day’s residence on June 23.
At first, Day claimed he hadn’t seen her for months. He told police she had left her car at the house and that he’d moved her belongings into storage.
Soluri had been staying in this blue home and is believed to have been killed there too
Rana, a proud Jordanian-Palestinian American, was described by her family as a force of nature in a small frame – strong-willed, passionate, and vocal about her beliefs
But the mounting evidence cracked his story wide open.
After police confronted him, Day confessed how he strangled Soluri in the kitchen of the home they shared.
He claimed to have dragged her body outside, disconnected the surveillance system, stuffed her into a black trash bin, and drove 70 miles to Bowie, Texas, where he dumped her over a bridge. But Day didn’t act alone.
According to arrest affidavits and a criminal complaint, shortly after the murder, Day called his friend Joni Thomas, 62, for help.
She arrived at his home in a pickup truck and the two allegedly used the vehicle to transport Soluri’s body.
At first, Thomas denied any involvement. She told police she hadn’t lent Day her truck but then she changed her story claiming that Day had in fact used the truck but that she was asleep during the trip.
She claimed to have believed he had only stopped to urinate when they paused on a bridge. By the time she woke up, she said, they were back in the driveway.
But investigators didn’t buy it – and neither did the evidence.
Authorities uncovered a damning voicemail on Thomas’ phone, allegedly created by an accidental butt dial.
In the message, a male voice, believed to be that of Day – can be heard saying ‘Hey … help me,’ ‘Make sure the lid’s on’ and ‘I’m sorry I got you messed up in this.’
Police said the audio of the two struggling to move a heavy object, likely Soluri’s body was the smoking gun detectives needed.
According to the warrant, cell phone records showed that both Day and Thomas left their devices behind at his house before the trip to Bowie – a premeditated move to create a false digital alibi.
Day confessed how he strangled Soluri in the kitchen of the home they were sharing after she caught him on video during an argument and threatened to call the police
‘This is a clear effort by both [Day] and [Thomas] to deceive law enforcement,’ police wrote. ‘They wanted it to appear as though they never left Fort Worth.’
For Soluri’s family, especially her sister Nez, the pain is unrelenting.
‘It’s been torture,’ Nez told NBC 5. ‘Every other day, I keep dreaming or wishing… maybe she bumped her head, had amnesia – something.’
Soluri, a proud Jordanian-Palestinian American, was described by loved ones as a force of nature in a small frame – strong-willed, passionate, and unapologetically vocal about her beliefs.
She was an advocate for women, animals, Palestinian rights and a fierce supporter of the underdog.
‘Rana Soluri was never silent in the face of injustice. She fought tirelessly for women… and for animals, who cannot speak for themselves… Rana was also deeply engaged in her Arab community… She was both a lover and a fighter,’ her family said in a public statement.
‘She fought tirelessly for women, whose voices are too often silenced,’ they added. ‘Her life will not be reduced to a statistic, nor her death swept aside by negligence.’
Dennis Day is currently being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a $200,000 bond, charged with murder.
Joni Thomas was arrested last month for tampering with evidence and has since bonded out.
Authorities say they are not currently seeking additional suspects, but the investigation remains open while the search for Soluri’s body continues.
In the meantime, Soluri’s family is pleading with the public to remain vigilant.
‘Justice for Rana is more than a family’s plea,’ they wrote. ‘It is a fight for every silenced voice, every overlooked life, and for truth itself.’
