Tragically, an Alabama woman who had been missing for over a week has been discovered deceased, and authorities have charged a man in connection with the mistreatment of her remains.
According to WBRC, the body of 23-year-old Karen Deann Hollis was located by her friends and family on Saturday, following her disappearance eight days prior.
Hollis was last spotted around midnight on May 8 in Northport, approximately 60 miles from Birmingham. Officials noted that she had a medical condition that might have affected her decision-making abilities.
The circumstances of her disappearance prompted an immediate and intensive search effort, leading the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to issue an alert for a missing and endangered person.
Her body was eventually discovered in Greene County, and 44-year-old Randall Lendell Dejourney has been charged with corpse abuse. An autopsy is scheduled, and additional charges against Dejourney are possible.
Hollis texted her boyfriend, Zackary Slaughter, she was going to get a Reese’s peanut butter cup before she vanished – that proved to be her last message.
“She texted me at 11 p.m. saying she didn’t feel good,” he told CBS42, recounting their last messages.
“I tried calling her at 4 that morning when I woke up, and then at 5 a.m. detectives were knocking on my door.”
He claimed cops “showed up and considered me as a suspect.”
Slaughter told the outlet he had been instructed by a bail bondsman not to contact Hollis due to a previous domestic violence charge. But, he claimed they had reconciled.
“I was one phone call away and she never got the opportunity, and I wasn’t there,” he said.
Hollis’ sister Brandy has been left heartbroken by her death.
“Oh I miss you,” she wrote on Facebook. “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.”
In another post, Brandy wrote, “I want her back so bad. A piece of me left with her.”