Police in Texas have arrested a second person in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of a flight attendant earlier this year.
Joni Thomas, 62, is facing a charge of tampering with evidence, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Dennis William Day, 66, was charged with Rana Nofal Soluri’s murder in June, after a coworker reported her missing, as CrimeOnline reported. The coworker said they hadn’t spoken with her since March, when she took time from work for minor surgery.
Soluri, 47, had lived with Day and another person for about a year while working for Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines. Initially Day denied knowing anything about her disappearance, but after police recovered surveillance video showing him dragging what appeared to be a lifeless body into the backyard, he admitted strangling her and throwing her body off a bridge in Bowie.
According to Thomas’s arrest warrant, she initially told police she did not let Day use her truck but later changed her story, saying that not only did she let him use the truck but that she was with him, KXAS reported. Thomas denied knowing that Day was transporting Soluri’s body, saying that when he stopped on a bridge, she thought he was urinating. She said she fell asleep in the passenger seat and woke up later back in Day’s driveway.
But the warrant says that police uncovered evidence that indicated Thomas actually helped Day dump Soluri’s body. Cell phone records say that Thomas drove to Day’s house after the alleged murder, then both left their phones at Day’s house before driving to Bowie.
“This is a clear effort by both [Day] and [Thomas] to deceive law enforcement and make it appear like they never left [Day’s] house in Fort Worth, Texas, when they were dumping [Soluri’s] body in Bowie, TX,” police said in the warrant.
And, apparently, Day left an accidental voicemail on Thomas’s phone.
The warrant details a male and female voice as they appear to be moving something heavy. The male voice is heard saying things like, “Hey, help me,” “Make sure the lid’s on,” and “I’m sorry I got you messed up in this.”
Day remains behind bars in the Tarrant County Jail on a $200,000 bond. Thomas is no longer on jail records and presumably posted bond.
Soluri’s body has not been found.
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[Featured image: Joni Thomas and Dennis William Day/Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office]
