Tacoma home searched in connection with missing pregnant woman; police have ’person of interest’ in case

TACOMA, Wash. — FBI agents stepped in to assist investigators as they combed through a south Tacoma house for hours looking for evidence in the disappearance of Kassandra Cantrell. The home became the focus of the investigation into the missing 33-year-old Parkland woman after Pierce County Sheriff’s detectives obtained information about a man being called a person of interest they believe may have the answers they are looking for.

“At this point, we do have a person that we want to either eliminate and clear or name him as a suspect,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesperson detective Ed Troyer. “We are working this case as if it’s a homicide until something tells us differently.”

The search began late Monday night when a SWAT team used flashbang grenades before entering the house.

“The first bang I thought was a car,” said neighbor Ron James. “The second bang, I heard people trying to tell him to come out of the residence.”

James says he rarely saw the man living at the home, but had seen Cantrell there. “Just once, only once. I guess you never know,” James said.

Cantrell was last seen Aug. 24. She was scheduled for an ultrasound after family members said she discovered she was pregnant. Her car was found four days later abandoned near the Tacoma Dome. Her mother told KIRO 7 that simply vanishing is not something her daughter would do.

“What I hope is, worst-case scenario is that maybe she was carjacked and she’s just hurt somewhere,” said Marie Smith.

People living in this south Tacoma neighborhood say the case, and the search for clues, so close to their homes, is unnerving.

“It’s kind of scary to think what could happen to her,” said Pong Sot, who was walking her dog near the scene. “I listen to a lot of true crimes, so this is kind of frightening.”

Cox Media Group