Fort Worth Man charged with murder of American Airlines flight attendant last seen in March

CBS News

6 hours ago

A 66-year-old Fort Worth man has been charged with the murder of an American Airlines flight attendant who has not been seen since March, authorities said.
Dennis William Day initially denied having any involvement in 47-year-old Rana Nofal Soluri's disappearance when questioned by Fort Worth police at his home in the 1600 block of Grantland Circle. He later admitted that he "snapped" when she threatened to call police and strangled her with his bare hands.
Coworker reports American Airlines flight attendant missing
A coworker reported Soluri missing on June 11, adding that she had last communicated with Soluri via text message on March 19 when the conversation ended abruptly and had not been able to reach her since. The coworker said Soluri had been living with Day for about a year and took a leave of absence for a minor surgery, but was expected back at work on March 31. She did not return to work.
Soluri's supervisor said she had worked for American Airlines for five years, and the behavior was unlike her. American Airlines confirmed they had not been able to reach Soluri.
Detectives checked the cell phone number associated with Soluri, the warrant states, and verified she had not traveled on a plane for work or leisure since her last work trip from Phoenix to DFW on Oct. 24, 2024.
Missing woman's car towed from residence
On May 8, police were called to Day's home in the 1600 block of Grantland Circle to tow Soluri's 2023 Mazda, purchased by Soluri one week before she was last seen.
The officer spoke to Day, who said the vehicle had been parked there for almost two months, the same amount of time since he last saw Soluri, the warrant states.
Day also told police about moving her things out of the home and into a storage unit. The report states that Day did not express knowledge or concern about Soluri.
Police return to Fort Worth home 1 month later
Fort Worth police were called back to the home on June 10 for a welfare check and spoke to Day. The officer's body cam captured the conversation.
According to the warrant, the officer was told that Day and Soluri were long-time friends and she had been living at the home on Grantland Circle before her disappearance, and despite calling and texting her, there had been no communication for three months.
The officer was told Soluri's vehicle was abandoned in front of the house, and no one knew where she was. The warrant states that a "reasonable explanation for her disappearance" was not provided.
Family and friends said they had no information about Soluri's whereabouts, according to the warrant, and the last time anyone had been able to verify she was alive was March 21. They said it was highly unlikely she would leave behind her brand-new car voluntarily.
Homicide detectives take over the investigation
Detectives received a warrant for Soluri's cell phone records on June 18. The detective said the records showed the last time her phone made an outgoing call was just before 4 p.m. on March 21.
The last data collection from her phone was made on the same day.
The warrant shows that around 11:45 p.m., the phone used a cell tower in the 6100 block of Meadowbrook Drive, near the home on Grantland Circle.
Just before midnight, her phone used a cell tower in the 2200 block of Scott Avenue. It was the last data connection received.
Detectives find surveillance video during a search of the home
Detectives returned to the home on Grantland Circle on June 23, where they met with Day and another resident. Both denied any involvement or knowledge of Soluri's disappearance and consented to a search of the home, according to the warrant.
Detectives searched the home's video surveillance. They found a video clip from March 21, where at 10:11 p.m., Day is seen dragging "what appears to be a lifeless body from the home into the backyard."
The surveillance video stopped recording for many days after that clip, the warrant states.
The detectives interviewed Day again, the warrant states, who admitted to strangling Soluri "on the kitchen floor until she died."
The warrant states that Day said he "dragged her body out to the backyard and when he realized that he was being recorded on his video surveillance, he disconnected the surveillance equipment.
Details allegedly revealed
According to the detective, Day said he put Soluri's body into a black trash bin and drove her to an area near Bowie, where he dumped her over a bridge.
On the way, he threw her cell phone into a river near Riverside and I-35. The warrant states that is consistent with her phone's last use of a cell tower on Scott Avenue.
Day reportedly told the detective that a few days after he killed her, he got rid of some of her belongings, including her handgun, which he said he threw in a storm drain under an overpass at I-35 and Pharr Street. The warrant states that a subsequent search of that storm drain revealed a black handled revolver with a black holster and appeared to be the same gun that Soluri had owned.
The warrant states that Day directed detectives to several bridges and areas near Bowie, but Soluri's body has not been found. Local law enforcement said creeks in the area have "flooded a number of times with rain since March, and her remains may have been washed down stream."
Day has been charged with murder and was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday with a bond of $200,000.
Tarrant County Jail