Karen Hollis was found in Greene County after relatives followed electronic clues from her last known movements.
NORTHPORT, Ala. — Relatives and friends searching for missing 23-year-old Karen Deann Hollis found her body in Greene County on May 16, ending eight days of fear and opening a murder case against 44-year-old Randall Lendell Dejourney.
The search began with worry inside Hollis’ family and ended near a stretch of Interstate 20/59. Hollis had been reported missing May 8 after she was last known to be near her Northport apartment. Police said early signs suggested foul play, but the first public break came when searchers used recovered electronic evidence to narrow the area where her remains were found. Authorities first charged Dejourney with abuse of a corpse. A murder charge followed after an autopsy found asphyxia and ruled the death a homicide.
Family members had already been helping Hollis before she vanished. They said they were with her May 7, the day before the missing-person report, as she prepared to move out of her Northport apartment. Her sister, Brandi Hollis, said the loss hit the family hard because Karen Hollis had close ties to young relatives who loved her. “She didn’t deserve this at all,” Brandi Hollis said. She said the family wanted answers about what happened after Karen left the apartment and why she never came home.
The first days of the search were filled with fragments of information. Hollis’ boyfriend, Zackary Slaughter, said he had been texting with her the night before she disappeared. He said she told him she was going to the store for a Reese’s peanut butter cup and also said she was not feeling well. Family members later said a location app showed a car leaving her apartment area at 4:25 a.m. and moving toward Interstate 20. At 4:42 a.m., the app recorded hard braking, a detail that became important to searchers.
Authorities said the Northport Police Department took the missing-person report and soon brought in the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit. Investigators executed multiple search warrants and collected witness statements, physical evidence and electronic records. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency also issued a missing and endangered person alert, saying Hollis had a condition that could impair her judgment. The alert added urgency for relatives who were trying to learn whether she was alive, hurt or unable to contact them.
The family’s search grew after they received information pointing toward the interstate. Relatives and friends looked near the route tied to the phone records and crash alert. They found Hollis’ remains in Greene County, near the roadway, after searching an area linked to recovered electronic evidence. Anthony Fenely, the fiancé of Hollis’ sister, said searchers found her within hours after focusing on that area. “I was hoping we could have found her alive,” Fenely said. Authorities said the discovery allowed them to detain the person of interest they had already identified.
Dejourney’s name moved to the center of the case after police reviewed apartment security video and phone records, according to court filings described in local reports. Investigators said video showed Dejourney with Hollis before both left the apartment area. The filings said he later returned and was seen carrying a large tote containing what looked like a black trash bag. Hollis was later found in a black trash bag off the interstate. Prosecutors have described the records as part of the reason they believe Dejourney was connected to Hollis’ death and the disposal of her body.
The legal case changed in stages. Dejourney was first booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on an abuse-of-a-corpse charge with a $15,000 cash bond. After the preliminary autopsy, authorities said Hollis’ cause of death was asphyxia and the manner was homicide. Prosecutors then brought a murder charge. At a later hearing, a judge found probable cause for both charges and ordered the case bound over to a grand jury. Dejourney was then held without bond under Alabama’s Aniah’s Law.
Court filings also said Dejourney claimed Hollis had hanged herself, but prosecutors said the medical examiner found the injuries were not consistent with hanging. The judge’s order said the state had shown that release conditions would not reasonably protect the community. The court record also referenced Dejourney’s past domestic violence history. The claims have not been tested at trial, and Dejourney is presumed innocent unless convicted.
For the family, the court process is only one part of the aftermath. Relatives have described Hollis as a free spirit who enjoyed time with family and had plans for simple things, including fishing with her sister. The loss left them with both grief and unfinished questions. Brandi Hollis said she had not been able to sleep or eat while her sister was missing. After the body was found, she said the family was left to plan a funeral instead of a reunion.
As of June 16, the case was moving toward grand jury review, with Dejourney jailed without bond and final forensic work still part of the record. Hollis’ family is waiting for the next court step while continuing to press for a full account of her last hours.
Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.