Pregnant Washington woman goes missing day before 1st sonogram, cops search ex's home believing it to be homicide
PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON: Washington authorities desperately searched the home of a man said to be the ex-boyfriend of a pregnant woman who went missing last month. The search went on through the whole night.
Kassandra Cantrell, 33, of Parkland, mysteriously vanished on August 25, a day before her first sonogram was scheduled. She was excited to see whether she was carrying twins, NBC's King 5 reported.
However, Cantrell missed her sonogram appointment and has not been seen or heard from since. Furthermore, there's also been no activity reported on her social media or financial accounts.
Investigators said her cellphone last pinged at Vashon Island on August 25, but added there has been no activity since.
Speaking to Q13Fox, family members revealed how Cantrell was excited about her pregnancy and insisted she would have never missed her first ultrasound appointment. “She wouldn’t have missed it for the world, it doesn’t make any sense for her to be gone at all,” said Marie Smith, her mother.
Authorities served a warrant on a home near K Street in Tacoma, around seven miles from the Tacoma Dome, and close to where Cantrell's 2014 white Mazda sedan with Washington license plate, AXV1638, was located, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.
The department revealed that the vehicle was found on August 27, abandoned underneath the overpass to Highway 705, which is a few blocks from the Tacoma Dome. "It doesn’t make any sense where the car was found. There’s nothing in that area that she would have been going to," Smith said.
“We’re working this case as a homicide until something tells us differently,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Ed Troyer said.
Authorities declined to reveal the ex-boyfriend's name but said they do have a person of interest in the case.
Smith said her daughter was supposed to go grocery shopping, but she didn't think that's where she went. Meanwhile, authorities have found no records of Cantrell stopping at a grocery store in the vicinity.
“I don’t think that’s where she was going when she left," Cantrell's mother continued. "Everything seemed to indicate she was going to see somebody because if she was going to the grocery store she would’ve just put her hair in a ponytail and put on some jeans and headed out, but it was clear she’d taken a shower and gotten dressed. She had taken some extra time, she doesn’t do that just to go grocery shopping.”
She insisted that Cantrell wouldn't have simply taken off without telling anyone, especially without her two beloved pet chihuahuas. "What I hope, worst-case scenario is that maybe she was carjacked and she’s just hurt somewhere," Smith said.
The embattled mother, however, expressed concern that Cantrell's ex might be involved.
"I wouldn’t have suspected him if he wasn’t the father," she added. "But he has a girlfriend so I don’t know what that might, you know, what that might have triggered."
Authorities have described Kassandra Cantrell as a white female who stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and weighs around 180 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
This is an ongoing investigation. If you or anyone you know has information related to her whereabouts, you are urged to call 911 immediately.