The body of a Pierce County woman who went missing this spring was found Wednesday, months after her former partner was arrested and charged in her death.
Tomorrow Dawn Dill-Pickett, 36, was reported missing in early April after friends and family alerted authorities that they hadn't heard from her, and that she had been unusually quiet on social media. The next month, while she was still missing, her former boyfriend Kendrick Deshaun Bruce was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful disposal of remains and two counts of identity theft.
Someone discovered her body Wednesday morning in a heavily wooded area in Frederickson, an unincorporated Pierce County community, according to the sheriff's office.
On Saturday, Dill-Pickett's adoptive father Paul Pickett said he's still working through the pain.
She was outgoing and had lots of friends, a lot of people that cared about her," Pickett said. "She had a good heart."
The father of Dill-Pickett's 10-year-old son submitted a victim impact statement to the court, describing the emotional and mental toll following her death. He wrote that the tragedy "permanently changed our lives" and asked the court to consider the significant impacts on him and their son.
Court documents show that Dill-Pickett had previously told loved ones that she had been abused and threatened by Bruce. The two were dating and worked together at a local gas station, according to her father. Dill-Pickett's former partner also told investigators no one had seen her since the beginning of March
Records show that following a weekslong investigation, cadaver dogs identified the smell of human remains on Bruce's car, and forensic investigations found drops of blood in Dill-Pickett's apartment. Upon searching Bruce's Google account, investigators learned he had searched for various ways to knock out and kill a person, as well as what happens to a body after death.
Pickett said the anger that someone took his daughter's life will always be there, but knowing where she is brings him some peace.
"That was my biggest fear, that we wouldn't have closure, he said.
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