Missing Kassandra Cantrell Update: Body Of Pregnant Washington Woman Found, Ex-Boyfriend Arrested

The body of a 33-year-old pregnant woman who went missing last month in Washington state was found Tuesday. Kassandra Cantrell was last seen Aug. 25 and was reported missing Aug. 27, a day after she'd missed an appointment for her first sonogram.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday an arrest has been made in the case. The woman's former boyfriend, Colin Patrick Dudley, 37, was taken into custody at his home in Tacoma without incident.

Dudley was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of murder, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said.

"It was a lot of work . . . . and we’re happy that there’s resolution for the family," sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said, according to Komo News. "But we're also sad for the family."

The sheriff's office said her remains were found along a steep hillside near Chambers Creek Road in University Place.

"Over the past 4 weeks our homicide detectives have worked this case non-stop, conducting multiple ground searches and executing numerous search warrants. Our detectives have meticulously collected and analyzed extensive records, data, and evidence in an efforts to locate the victim and to identify the suspect responsible for her disappearance," authorities said in a Facebook post.

After a missing report was filed, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said they found Cantrell's unoccupied white Mazda sedan not far from a highway overpass near the Tacoma Dome. Troyer said Tuesday investigators uncovered surveillance video of the suspect dropping off her white Mazda car.

"We are treating this as a homicide investigation until something tells us differently," Troyer said earlier this month. "She is still missing under highly suspicious circumstances." Troyer had said the person of interest is someone "that they want to eliminate and clear or name him as a suspect."

Last month, Cantrell's mother Marie Smith said she was having a baby with a friend and though the pregnancy was unexpected, it was a welcome surprise.

“When she found out she was thrilled because she wasn’t sure that she’d have a chance to have a baby and so she was really excited, she already picked out names,” Smith said, adding she doesn’t believe her daughter decided to just pack up and leave.

“She would have taken her dogs,” Smith said. “If she took nothing else, she would have taken her darn dogs because they’re her babies.”