Kassanndra Cantrell disappearance: Inside the investigation

Days after a tender girl vanishes, a person in a particular hat is noticed strolling clear of her automobile. Who is the guy in the hat?

On Aug. 25, 2020, Kassanndra Cantrell, a 33-year-old girl from Tacoma, Washington, disappeared. Her mom Marie Smith recalled announcing good-bye to Kassanndra early that morning, however says Kassanndra did not go back house later that day, and had stopped responding to telephone calls and texts.

Not like her

According to Kassanndra’s pal, Alexandra McNary, the two had plans to fulfill on Aug. 26, 2020, however Kassanndra by no means confirmed up. The subsequent morning, Kassanndra’s mom texted McNary to look if Kassanndra used to be together with her to which Alexandra responded that she used to be no longer. Marie Smith referred to as the police later that day.

Where did Kassanndra pass?

Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Franz Helmcke spoke with Kassanndra’s friends and family and scoured pictures from native surveillance cameras for clues. On a neighbor’s safety digicam, they discovered video of Kassanndra’s white Mazda leaving her group on the morning of Aug. 25, the day she went lacking. 

The guy in the hat

On Aug. 28, 2020, police discovered Kassanndra’s automobile parked on a boulevard in an commercial group; it used to be unlocked, with the keys on the middle console. A mild rail device operated alongside that very same boulevard, so investigators asked its teach digicam pictures from August 25. One video confirmed a person in a depressing hat strolling clear of Kasssanndra’s automobile and proceeding to the close by mild rail station round 11:50 that morning. 

Searching for clues

Investigators had ordered a hint on Kassanndra’s mobile phone to take a look at to spot her ultimate identified location. The telephone pinged about two miles south of a tower close to Puget Sound. Based on that location, they believed her telephone used to be most probably someplace in the water close to Owen Beach in Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park. The Pierce County Metro Dive Team went to the seashore and shaped a line and searched the space underwater. 

An wonderful to find

Incredibly, after a little bit over an hour, one among the divers noticed Kassanndra’s mobile phone with its sparkly case. It used to be despatched to a expert to decide if any information might be recovered from it. Marie Smith, in the meantime, had combed via Kassanndra’s telephone information. She spotted correspondence with an unfamiliar quantity without a title assigned to it. The ultimate time that telephone quantity gave the impression in Kassanndra’s telephone report used to be the morning she disappeared.

An added urgency to search out Kassanndra

The investigation used to be working on a number of fronts. Investigators had additionally discovered that at the time she went lacking, Kassanndra used to be round 10 weeks pregnant. Kassanndra had texted her pal Alexandra McNary an image of a good being pregnant check, and their deliberate assembly on August 26 have been to wait her first ultrasound scan. 

A secret romance

Alexandra McNary says Kassanndra instructed her the father of her long run child used to be an ex-boyfriend that she have been seeing once more: Colin Dudley. He and Kassanndra met in 2006 right through an area manufacturing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and dated for a couple of months. Dudley then started a dating with every other “Rocky Horror Picture Show” solid member, and through 2020 they had been residing in combination. 

However, Kassanndra had instructed buddies that she and Dudley had secretly rekindled their romance. Kassanndra had additionally stated Dudley had up to now instructed her he didn’t need children. McNary instructed “48 Hours” contributor Natalie Morales that Kassanndra referred to as her after revealing her being pregnant to Colin. “… she said, ‘well, I told him … and it went better than expected … He was calm and said not to worry about it, and that they would talk.'”

Interviewing Colin Dudley

Detective Helmcke went to Colin Dudley’s space to prepare an interview and left his quantity. Dudley referred to as him again and agreed to talk with him the subsequent day. When Det. Helmcke requested about Kassanndra, Dudley stated he hadn’t had touch together with her in years. 

Remember that mysterious telephone quantity Marie Smith had present in Kassanndra’s telephone information? It used to be the identical quantity Dudley had referred to as Helmcke directly to arrange the interview. Helmcke faced Dudley about Kassanndra’s claims that he used to be the father of her child, and Dudley denied it and any involvement in her disappearance. 

Following the guy in the hat

When Det. Helmcke seen the pictures from the mild rail device the place Kassanndra’s automobile have been discovered, one thing caught out. The guy strolling clear of her automobile on Aug. 25 regarded very similar to Colin Dudley, however used to be dressed in a masks and a black fedora. He perceived to stroll clear of the station against a close-by parking storage, so Helmcke requested the storage safety group to look their video recordings for any signal of the guy in the hat.

Colin Dudley’s truck

The video from the storage did display the guy in the hat strolling in simply after he had left the mild rail station on the morning of Aug. 25, 2020. In the video, the guy walked to a grey Chevy truck parked in the storage, were given in, and drove out. As the truck left the storage, the registration code used to be visual. It used to be registered to Colin Dudley.

The items come in combination

As they scanned again via the storage pictures from even previous in the day on August 25, investigators discovered the Chevy truck have been parked there round 8 a.m. That video confirmed what gave the impression to be Colin Dudley in a special blouse riding the truck in after which driving off on a motorcycle. Investigators imagine Dudley used to be hanging his truck in position for when he would later drop off Kassanndra’s automobile.

A deliberate assembly

Cellphone supplier knowledge printed that Kassanndra Cantrell and Colin Dudley would ceaselessly textual content about assembly up at his space, and that Kassanndra had texted Dudley at 8:49 a.m. the morning she went lacking: “I’m a bit early, that ok?” Dudley replied, “Yep, come on down.”

Investigators seek Colin Dudley’s space

Investigators searched Colin Dudley’s space however did not to find Kassanndra. They did take proof, together with his truck, a motorcycle, and a black fedora hat. Cadaver canines confirmed explicit pastime in the basement, particularly a brown sofa. But it wasn’t sufficient to make an arrest. Detective Helmcke instructed “48 Hours,” “He’s guilty of something. But … what is he guilty of?”

A brand new lead

Once investigators had been ready to 0 in on Colin Dudley, they were given a warrant to take away his truck’s black field to assemble its knowledge and observe the truck’s actions on the day of Kassanndra’s disappearance. 

Something that stuck their consideration used to be Dudley’s actions on August 26, the day after Kassanndra used to be at his space. Early that morning, Dudley’s truck drove to a space close to a wooded ravine and stopped for a number of mins. On Sept. 22, 2020, just about a month after Kassanndra’s disappearance, investigators rushed to that ravine, most effective 8 miles from Dudley’s space. 

Police knowledge presentations Colin Dudley’s actions on the morning of Aug. 26, 2020. The yellow dots constitute Dudley’s car riding to the location the place Kassanndra Cantrell’s stays had been discovered.

Kassanndra Cantrell’s stays are discovered

In the space close to the place Colin Dudley’s Chevy had parked, investigators discovered a trash bin with a bag liner, blood and human stays. Det. Helmcke used to be ready to spot the stays through a particular tattoo Marie Smith had instructed him Kassanndra had. It used to be a quote that learn, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” Kassanndra Cantrell have been discovered.

Colin Dudley pleads to blame

Colin Dudley used to be arrested that night time and used to be charged with first-degree homicide. He later pleaded to blame and the case didn’t pass to trial. 

On Nov. 14, 2022, Dudley used to be sentenced to only over 26 years in jail for the homicide of Kassanndra Cantrell. With just right habits, he might be out as early as 2044. 

cantrell-hat-man

 Surveillance symbol of the guy in the hat