A man has been charged with corpse abuse after the body of a missing 23-year-old Alabama woman was discovered by her family and friends.
Karen Deann Hollis was last seen near her apartment complex in the city of Northport on May 8. Loved ones soon became concerned when they had not heard from her.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency issued a missing and endangered person’s alert after her disappearance, explaining that Hollis had a condition that could impair her judgment.
“I have not felt good,” said Karen’s sister Brandy Hollis, who reported her sibling missing. “I haven’t eaten, I haven’t been able to sleep, I haven’t been able to do anything because I’m worried about her safety.”
On the evening she disappeared, Hollis had texted her boyfriend Zackary Slaughter that she was going to get a Reese’s peanut butter cup from the store.
“She texted me at 11 p.m. saying she didn’t feel good,” Slaughter told CBS42. “I tried calling her at 4 that morning when I woke up, and then at 5 a.m. detectives were knocking on my door.”
Early in the investigation authorities said they suspected foul play, so the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit began working jointly on the case with the Northport Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
“Karen Hollis was reported missing to the Northport Police Department on May 8, 2026,” a statement from the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said.
“During the investigation, multiple search warrants were executed, and investigators gathered extensive physical, witness, and electronic evidence.”
Police said they identified a person of interest last week, but at the time Hollis had not been found.
Family and friends were eventually able to trace her location to an area in Greene County on Saturday afternoon, finding her body just over a week after she vanished.
Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said the location was identified using “recovered electronic evidence”, adding that law enforcement detained the person of interest after the body was discovered.
Randall Lendell Dejourney, 44, has now been charged with abuse of a corpse and is being held at the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $15,000 cash deposit.
Dejourney could face further charges pending an autopsy and determination of the cause and manner of death by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Medical Examiner.
A GoFundMe appeal has been launched to help raise $2,800 for Hollis’ funeral and to giver her a “loving farewell”.
“Oh I miss you,” her sister Brandy wrote on Facebook as she shared the fundraiser. “My heart is hurting. We was [sic] planning on hanging out again an [sic] going fishing. Please tell our brother tat I miss him n love him. You #forever23 just like him.”
