A convicted sex offender has been charged in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama woman whose body was found in a shallow grave weeks after she left a bar with two men and then texted a friend to say: 'I feel in trouble'.

Fredrick Hampton, 50, was charged on Thursday with abuse of Paighton Houston's corpse after the 29-year-old's body was found dumped in the shallow grave on January 3.

Hampton is not yet in custody and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

He has not been charged with Houston's death.

Fredrick Hampton, 50, was charged on Thursday with abuse of Paighton Houston's corpse after the 29-year-old's body was found dumped in the shallow grave in Alabama on January 3

It comes after Houston's body was found wrapped in fabric and buried in a muddy, shallow grave in the backyard of a home in Hueytown, about 15 miles outside of Birmingham.

Authorities said Hampton has links to that home but did not elaborate. Investigators started searching the home after receiving a tip about Houston's disappearance.

At the time of the search, neighbors said the home used to be occupied by an elderly man but he had been taken away by family a while back to receive care.

Houston had been missing since December 20 when she was last seen leaving the Tin Roof bar in Birmingham at 10.45pm with two heavy-set black men.

Authorities said Hampton was initially taken into custody on December 28 on suspicion of kidnapping but was released two days later investigators failed to gather enough evidence to charge him with a crime.

Houston's body was found wrapped in fabric and buried in a muddy, shallow grave in the backyard of a home in Hueytown, about 15 miles outside of Birmingham

Houston had been missing since December 20 when she was last seen leaving the Tin Roof bar in Birmingham at 10.45pm with two heavy-set black men. She later sent a text to a friend that said: 'idk who im with so if I call please answer. I feel in trouble'

Authorities said Hampton has links to the home where Houston's body was found but did not elaborate. Investigators started searching the home after receiving a tip about Houston's disappearance.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief David Agee said on Thursday they have evidence Hampton and Houston were together the night she disappeared after leaving the bar.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office has not yet determined the cause and manner of Houston's death.

They are awaiting additional testing, including toxicology results.

Agee said preliminary results show there was no physical trauma to the body that would have led to her death.

There is evidence Houston died the day after she was last seen, according to Agee.

She was believed to have been at the bar with co-workers and friends have said she didn't know the two men she left with.

Houston has been missing since December 20 when she was last seen leaving the Tin Roof bar in Birmingham at 10.45pm with two heavy-set black men

Houston sent a text message to a friend just after midnight that said: 'idk who im with so if I call please answer. I feel in trouble'.

Her mother, Charlaine Houston, had previously described the text as 'very concerning'.

In the weeks after her disappearance, her family said her bank account went unused and that her phone went straight to voicemail.

Her family had posted social media pleas for information during the search and a $10,000 reward - put up by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Crime Stoppers - was being offered at the time.

Hampton was previously convicted in 1992 on first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy charges, according to Jefferson County records.

He served 20 years in prison before his release in 2012.