Missing Parkland woman treated as homicide investigation, ex-boyfriend is person of interest

Members of an FBI forensic team were sifting through the Tacoma home of a missing pregnant woman’s ex-boyfriend Tuesday.

“We had the FBI involved because this is a very intricate case, and they have some equipment, and some materials, and some processes that we don’t have that are highly advanced, and we are going to need them on this case,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer.

They were searching the home in connection with the disappearance of 33-year-old Kassandra Cantrell. The pregnant Parkland woman has not been seen since Tuesday. Her parents reported her missing Thursday after she failed to come home and missed her first ultrasound appointment a day earlier. Her car was found abandoned with the keys inside near the Tacoma Dome, less than two miles away from her ex-boyfriend’s home near South K Street and South 35th Street.

“We were led to this residence by information that we’ve developed through the investigation, and we’re going to work this residence and search some other areas and continue to work this case as a homicide until something tells us differently,” Troyer said.

As for the ex-boyfriend:

“Well, obviously, we have people that are under the umbrella of interest and he is one of them, but we do not have him arrested or detained,” Troyer said. “He’s somebody that we need to track the evidence until it tells us that he’s involved, or the evidence tells us he’s not at fault. But at this point, it wouldn’t be prudent for us not to continue looking at him as a possibility in this case.”

Troyer says it is not clear whether the ex-boyfriend could be the father of Cantrell’s unborn baby, or who the father might be.

“We are working this case as if something nefarious happened, we’re working this as a homicide until something tells us different because this is not normal for her,” Troyer said. “She lives with her parents, she stays in touch with friends, so it was immediately suspicious when she went missing and didn’t make it to a doctor’s appointment.”

“When we found her car abandoned down by the railroad tracks and by the Sounder train, and with keys inside, then we knew we were on the right path, and so we’re continuing to work this until the evidence tells us something different, as a possible homicide,” he added.

While Cantrell’s case is being treated as a homicide investigation that does not necessarily mean investigators don’t think she’ll be found alive.

“Absolutely, if we get lucky, and we work through this and we find her live, that’s the best possible outcome. But at this point, we wouldn’t be prudent by not treating it as a homicide and taking a strong look at this and treating it that way until something tells us different,” Troyer explained.

Cantrell’s cell phone is either dead or shut off, and has been for about a week. There has also been no activity on any financial accounts.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

“If anybody knows who she is, or she’s a friend of somebody that has information, we would like to hear from them, absolutely,” Troyer said.

MISSING PERSON – Kassanndra Cantrell, 33 yrs old, 5’7”,180 lbs., brown hair. Last seen morning of 8/25 when she drove away from her family’s home in Parkland in a white 2014 Mazda 3 sedan wi/ license plate AXV1638. Unusual for Cantrell to not return home or not to contact family. pic.twitter.com/1ypPfZy1wL

— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) August 28, 2020

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