Investigators say phone data, video and witness accounts shaped the case after Karen Hollis vanished.

NORTHPORT, Ala. — A phone alert and other electronic records helped lead investigators and relatives to the body of Karen Deann Hollis, a 23-year-old Northport woman whose disappearance has led to murder and abuse-of-a-corpse charges against a Tuscaloosa man.

Randall Lendell Dejourney, 44, is being held without bond after a judge found probable cause to send the case forward. He was first charged with abuse of a corpse after Hollis’ body was found May 16 in Greene County. Authorities later added a murder charge after a preliminary autopsy found that Hollis died of asphyxia and that her death was a homicide.

The case began May 8, when Hollis was reported missing to Northport police. She had been living at an apartment complex in Northport, near Tuscaloosa, and family members quickly feared something was wrong. Police said early evidence pointed to possible foul play, and the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit joined Northport police in the investigation. The search moved from a missing-person case to a death investigation after relatives and friends found her body more than a week later near Interstate 20/59 in Greene County.

Electronic records became one of the first major clues. Family members said a Life360 app showed Hollis leaving her apartment area in a car at 4:25 a.m. on May 8, traveling south through downtown and toward Interstate 20. The app later showed hard braking at 4:42 a.m. Zackary Slaughter, Hollis’ boyfriend, said she had texted him hours earlier about going to the store for a Reese’s peanut butter cup. He said she also texted that she did not feel well. Those final messages gave relatives a narrow window as they searched for her.

Investigators later said they executed multiple search warrants and gathered physical, witness and electronic evidence. Court filings described security camera footage from Hollis’ apartment complex that showed Dejourney with Hollis before the two left the area. The filings said he later returned and was seen leaving with a large tote that appeared to contain a black trash bag. Authorities have not publicly released the full video, and Dejourney has not been convicted of any charge. The allegations remain part of the evidence prosecutors presented in court.

Police also examined phone data. According to court records described in local reports, investigators recovered Hollis’ phone near Interstate 20/59 after a crash alert pointed searchers toward that area. Cell records then helped investigators trace Dejourney’s movements from Hollis’ apartment toward Knoxville, Alabama, in Greene County, and back east. Searchers later found Hollis’ body in the same general corridor, roughly 10 to 20 feet off the roadway, according to accounts from court records and relatives.

The discovery ended an eight-day search that had drawn family members, friends and people from the Northport community. Anthony Fenely, the fiancé of Hollis’ sister, said volunteers located the remains after a focused search. “I’ll always remember her as a free spirit,” Fenely said. Relatives said Hollis was loved by a niece and nephew and had been looking ahead to ordinary family moments, including time outside and fishing. Her sister, Brandi Hollis, said the family’s grief was made worse by the fear and uncertainty that filled the days before the body was found.

Dejourney’s legal situation changed after the autopsy and court hearing. He was initially booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $15,000 cash bond on the abuse-of-a-corpse charge. After prosecutors presented more evidence, including the medical examiner’s preliminary findings, the murder charge was added. Circuit Judge Allen W. May Jr. later ordered Dejourney held without bond under Alabama’s Aniah’s Law, which allows judges to deny release in some violent felony cases when the state meets a higher burden.

At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors also addressed a claim attributed to Dejourney that Hollis had hanged herself. Court filings said the medical examiner found her injuries were not consistent with hanging. The judge found probable cause for both the murder and abuse-of-a-corpse charges and bound the case over to a grand jury. A grand jury will decide whether to indict Dejourney. A defense attorney’s full response to the allegations was not clear from the public reports reviewed.

The case remains active. Investigators have said they used search warrants, witness accounts, physical evidence and electronic records to build the case, but they have not publicly released all details about what happened inside the apartment, when Hollis died or what Dejourney’s full account is. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences is expected to complete final reports tied to the autopsy and evidence review.

Dejourney remains in custody without bond, and the case was awaiting further action by prosecutors and a grand jury. Hollis’ family continues to mourn a woman they described as kind, restless and full of life.

Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.