LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A couple has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a Tacoma man who was reported missing last month.

According to police, 28-year-old Caelick Bradley was last heard from on June 8. His mother told investigators they were supposed to leave for a cross-country move on June 10.

“I told him on the very last day we spoke that I was proud of him,” his mother, Birgit Kueppers, told KIRO 7.

His mother and his friends told investigators that this lack of contact with her son was not normal for him, court docs said.

He was reported missing on June 12.

When investigators began looking into his disappearance, several friends of Bradley told police that they were concerned about his relationship with 22-year-old Aydee Casado-Dominguez, court documents said.

According to court documents, those friends said Casado-Dominguez had “been abusive towards him [Bradley]” and that she allegedly sent him threatening messages.

She also allegedly wanted Bradley to fight her other boyfriend/fiance, 22-year-old Humberto Rodriguez-Hernandez.

“We decided to do our own kind of investigation because we felt like we were running out of time,” Kueppers said.

Credit card fraud leads to homicide investigation

On June 25, detectives got a warrant for Bradley’s bank statements.

That warrant showed that his bank card was being used after he went missing, docs said.

One transaction was reported at Walmart for $287. “There were two more transactions at the same location on June 12. Both transactions were unsuccessful,” court docs said.

According to court documents, Walmart video shows Rodriguez-Hernandez trying to make the failed transactions. Casado-Dominguez was with him, docs said. The transactions on June 12 totaled about $750, and Rodriguez-Hernandez ended up paying with his own card, according to court docs.

Rodriguez-Hernandez was arrested on June 30 for identity theft.

According to court documents, Rodriguez-Hernandez admitted to using Bradley’s card at least a dozen times. He said Casado-Dominguez gave him the card, and while he thought it was “weird,” he “just went with it,” according to court docs.

During questioning, detectives asked about Bradley’s whereabouts.

Rodriguez-Hernandez said that he was dead, and he agreed to show them where he and Casado-Dominguez disposed of the body, court documents said.

On June 30, human remains were found at a gravel turnout at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The remains were found with blankets and ratchet straps described by Rodriguez-Hernandez as what was used to move the body, according to court docs.

Casado-Dominguez was arrested on June 30.

What the suspects told investigators

Casado-Dominguez said she last saw Bradley on June 8. She told investigators that he came over that day and then later texted her that he had a flat tire, according to court documents.

Court documents say that friends of Bradley confirmed he had a flat tire, but said that Casado-Dominguez picked him up in Fife on June 9.

According to court documents, Bradley’s phone pinged at Casado-Dominguez and Rodriguez-Hernandez’s Lakewood apartment on June 10 and 11 before it either died or was shut off.

Rodriguez-Hernandez told officers that he returned home from JBLM and found Bradley dead on the couch, according to court docs.

Rodriguez-Hernandez said Casado-Dominguez “admitted to shooting Bradley after some sort of dispute turned into a physical altercation on or about June 9,” court docs said.

She told Rodriguez-Hernandez that she confronted him over alleged inappropriate pictures of her and her child, docs said. He shoved her, and she fired multiple times, according to court docs.

Investigators say the pair allegedly borrowed a truck from a coworker to move Bradley’s body.

While the suspects drove to JBLM, Casado-Dominguez left her 2-year-old at home alone, court docs allege.

During a court hearing on July 2, prosecutors were concerned with what the child may have seen, since Bradley was shot in the apartment and found on the couch.

Bail was set at $1 million for both Casado-Dominguez and Rodriguez-Hernandez.

They pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and identity theft.

The pair will be tried separately. That is scheduled to happen in mid to late August.

Kueppers said she has been struggling to sleep and has no words to convey what she’s going through.

She did say that what the alleged suspects did to her son was “cruel.”

“I will not speak their names. I will speak Caelick’s name. And I will encourage people to share happy memories of Caelick.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help his family.

©2026 Cox Media Group