Kassanndra Cantrell shared a secret with her best friend before she went missing | Forensic Files

on August 25th 2020 Cassandra Cantrell went missing from her hometown near Tacoma Washington Cassandra's mother
said that her daughter had a shopping day planned and would be meeting up with her friend the next day
I remember I was late by about 15 minutes I texted her hey where are you hey I'm
sorry I'm late I got no response Alexandra McNary said she left panicked messages until Cassandra's voicemail box
was full she never just went dark like that before a month before she disappeared Cassandra had
confided a secret to her best friend she texted me a positive pregnancy test and said I think I might be preggers
the day Cassandra was supposed to meet Alexandra but never showed up was what would have been her first ultrasound
appointment for detective Franz helmke learning that Cassandra was pregnant during the time
of her disappearance changed everything this is what is now peaking my my interest normally in a situation where
pregnant woman disappears you look at who the partner is first correct Cassandra had told Alexandra that the
father of her baby was Colin Dudley an ex-boyfriend she was still in touch with she was very excited she
talked about you know names and games she wanted at the baby shower she had she had a Amazon registry
already made Cassandra was hesitant about telling Colin because he had mentioned that he
didn't want to have kids but Alexandra says Cassandra claimed he took the news well she called me and 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 detective helmke wondered if Colin knew where Cassandra was Colin sat and talked
with Detective Helm key on his front porch in recorded conversation talking to other people talking to Cassandra's
family and some other friends they reported that she was about 10 weeks pregnant and
what we've been hearing is that she's been telling people that you are the father
no way now hell no Colin was adamant that he was not the father of Cassandra's child in fact he
insisted he hadn't seen Cassandra since they broke up in 2006 except once when he ran into her at the mall do you have
any no contact with no messages or no Facebook or anything no helmkey believed Colin was lying but
could he prove it Cassandra's mother Marie was anxious for any morsel of information and she had done her part
combing through Cassandra's old phone bills where she noticed a mystery number that kept reappearing I said so okay so
what's that number and she tells me that I immediately know it's Colin helmke wanted forensic investigators to take a
closer look at Dudley's phone which he had taken when they spoke on Dudley's front porch investigators obtained the
phone records for both Cassandra and Dudley's phones they discovered Cassandra was outside Dudley's house at
8 49 a.m on August 25th the day she went missing Detective Ryan salmon said these
texts were deleted from Dudley's phone she said I'm a bit early that okay and he says he says yep come on down those
two messages were both deleted out of his phone and so the two phones are then pinpointed in that same location at the
house for a couple of hours right about a month after Cassandra went missing investigators obtained GPS
coordinates from the black box of Dudley's truck they noticed that Dudley had driven his truck to a wooded area by
a ravine early on August 26th the day after Cassandra disappeared detectives went to that Ravine and found
Cassandra's remains Colin Dudley was arrested and charged with first-degree murder it was premeditated it was
literally cold-blooded on November 14 2022 Colin Dudley pleaded guilty to first-degree
murder and was sentenced to 26 years in prison I I have no words that would even
encompass the frustration anger sadness heartache Cassandra's family and friends were
upset that someone guilty of murdering a pregnant woman would only get 26 years in prison
you think the system is broken very broken in this case how is it that somebody can do what he did and not have
to spend his life in prison with good behavior Dudley could be free again as early as 2044. you should never
see the light of day again Cassandra's family wants to make sure that no one else suffers the way they
say they have they want a new law that if someone is guilty of knowingly killing a pregnant woman they would
automatically get a life sentence no possibility parole you die in jail until there's any sort of resemblance of
Justice I'm not letting this go

Before the Tacoma 33-year-old went missing, she confided a secret to her best friend: she was pregnant. When police went out searching for Kassanndra, they knew they had to speak to the man who Kassanndra said was the father of her baby.

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Brief Summary

Cassandra Cantrell went missing, was murdered by Colin Dudley, who received a 26-year sentence, prompting calls for stricter laws on killing pregnant women.

Key points

Cassandra's Disappearance. Cassandra Cantrell goes missing just before her first ultrasound appointment, raising alarms.
Colin Dudley's Arrest. Colin Dudley is arrested and charged with first-degree murder after Cassandra's remains are found.
Justice for Cassandra. Cassandra's family fights for a new law after Dudley receives a light sentence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I have no words that would even encompass the frustration, anger, sadness, heartache.

4:26WatchApr 9, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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