A voicemail left on a butt dial allegedly exposed a plot to dispose of the remains of a missing Texas flight attendant from March.
Authorities have charged Joni Thomas, 62, with tampering with evidence related to the suspected murder of Lana Nofal Soluli, an envoy air flight attendant who vanished. Reports indicate that this information came to light recently.
Police are looking into both Thomas, from Fort Worth, and 66-year-old Dennis William Day, in connection with Soluli’s alleged murder.
Reports suggest that Soluli had been living with Day for about a year and was reported missing after her friends could not reach her since March 19.
“She was on a leave of absence for a minor surgical procedure and was expected back at work on March 31, but she never showed up,” noted the report.
Day allegedly called Thomas after claiming he had killed Soluli during a heated argument in his kitchen. After Thomas reportedly came to his residence, they drove to Bowie with Soluli’s body, where they disposed of it off a bridge.
During the investigation, detectives reportedly found a voicemail on Thomas’s phone that seemed to be an accidental butt dial. In the recording, a man can be heard saying things like, “Hey… help me,” “Make sure the lid is on,” and “Sorry.”
Initially, Thomas denied any involvement in the murder but later stated that she used her truck while claiming to have been asleep at times during the drive.
She has been charged with tampering with evidence and was released on bond from Tarrant County Jail.
Day, on the other hand, has reportedly confessed to strangling Soluli. After law enforcement was allowed to search his home, they found surveillance footage showing a man dragging what looked like a body. He is facing murder charges and is currently held on a $200,000 bond.
According to reports, Soluli’s coworkers shared additional videos from March 19 with investigators.
Police documents indicate that while Day initially denied his involvement, he later revealed that Soluli had recorded video footage of him during an altercation. After he allegedly strangled her in his kitchen, he dragged her body to the backyard, aware of a security camera watching him. He reportedly disabled the camera and later tossed her body into a trash can, driving her remains near Bowie to dump her off a bridge. Investigators note that while her body has not been recovered, her cell phone signal was detected in the vicinity.
