An Alabama woman who had been missing for more than a week has been found dead — and a man has now been charged with abuse of a corpse.
Karen Dean Hollis, 23, was found by her friends and family on Saturday – eight days after she went missing. WBRC reported.
She was last seen at around midnight on May 8 in Northport – about 60 miles from Birmingham – and cops revealed she was suffering from a condition that could impair her judgement.
Hollis’ disappearance sparked an urgent search and an Alabama law enforcement agency issued a missing and endangered person alert.
Her body was found in Greene County and Randall Lindell DeGourney, 44, was charged with abuse of a corpse. An autopsy will now take place and Dejourney could face more charges.
Hollis texted her boyfriend, Zachary Slaughter, that she was going to get a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup before she disappeared — which proved to be her final message.
“She texted me at 11 p.m. saying she wasn’t feeling well,” he told CBS42 as he recounted their final messages.
“I tried to call her at 4 a.m. that day when I woke up, and at 5 a.m. investigators were knocking on my door.”
He claimed that the police “came and considered me a suspect.”
Slaughter told the outlet that he was instructed by a bail bondsman not to contact Hollis due to the previous domestic violence charge. But he claimed that they had reconciled.
“I was one phone call away and she never had the opportunity, and I wasn’t there,” he said.
Hollis’ sister, Brandi, is deeply saddened by her death.
“Oh I miss you” I wrote On Facebook. “My heart hurts. We were like that.” [sic] Planning to hang out again [sic] Go fishing. Please tell our brother that I miss him and love him. You are #forever23 just like him.
In another post, Brandy wrote“I want her back so bad. I left a piece of me with her.”