DNA testing confirms body of flight attendant who was killed and thrown from bridge

Authorities announced that DNA testing identified a body found in a Texas creek as a missing flight attendant whose roommate has been charged with killing her and dumping her remains off a bridge.

Rana Nofal Soluri, 47, was found on June 13 by a fisherman on the bank of Brushy Creek under a bridge in Montague County, about 70 miles northwest of Fort Worth, according to police and local reports. The remains were taken to the University of North Texas Health’s Center for Human Identification, where DNA testing recently confirmed the identity as Soluri, a Fort Worth Police Department spokesperson told NBC News.

Soluri worked for Envoy Air, a regional carrier owned by American Airlines, and had been missing since March 2025. She had taken time off for a minor operation and was expected to return to work on March 31, 2025, but a co-worker reported her missing months later, on June 11, 2025, after she failed to return and could not be reached, police said.

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Rana Nofal Soluri, 47, was murdered in March 2025 and reported missing in June 2025, before being discovered by a fisherman a year later and her remains finally confirmed her identity last month. (GoFundMe)

Dennis Day, 67, Soluri’s former roommate and longtime friend, was arrested in June 2025 and charged with murder. Police said Day admitted he "snapped" during a dispute with Soluri before he "began to strangle her with his bare hands," according to an arrest warrant cited by reports.

Day allegedly told investigators he strangled Soluri on the kitchen floor, dragged her body into the backyard, loaded her "head first" into a large black trash bin and transported her body roughly 70 miles away before dumping it over a bridge, according to court documents.

Investigators said home surveillance video from Day’s Fort Worth house showed him dragging "what appears to be a lifeless body from the home into the backyard" on March 21, 2025. Police also said an "inadvertent call" and message on another woman’s phone captured a panicked Day asking for help moving Soluri’s body.

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Dennis Day had reportedly told fellow inmates that he was confident he could not be charged with the murder of his former Fort Worth, Texas, roommate because Rana Nofal Soluri's body was still missing. (Tarrant County Jail; GoFundMe)

That woman, identified as Joni Thomas, also known as Joanne Walters, 63, was charged with tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse. Police allege that she helped Day dispose of Soluri’s body. Both cases remain pending.

Before the DNA confirmation, prosecutors said Day had bragged to people in jail that he could not be convicted if authorities never found Soluri’s body, according to a notice filed by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and cited by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

A GoFundMe page set up for Soluri’s daughter, Lulu Soluri, said American Airlines helped fly her mother’s remains to Seattle for a Muslim burial, which took place on Sept. 29. The fundraiser said Lulu also plans to travel to Texas for a future court date, where she is expected to deliver a statement.

The body of Rana Nofal Soluri, 47, was found in a Texas creek more than a year after she was reported missing, and a DNA test confirmed the identity of her remains last month. (GoFundMe)

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"Lulu is a very private person, so this is a huge feat for her to face the person accused of killing her mother," the GoFundMe read. "Lulu thanks everyone for their support. She is always overwhelmed knowing how many people have helped her during this process."

Eric Mack is a breaking news reporter and writer Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET, with a particular interest in stories that lead the news cycle on politics, elections, foreign affairs and government.