Forensic pathologist identifies remains in Frederickson Forest

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified human remains found in a Frederickson forest as Tomorrow Dawn Dill-Pickett, 36, a suspected homicide victim.

According to a news release from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, police were dispatched Wednesday morning to the 7700 block of East 176th Street to investigate reported human remains.

Detectives confirmed the remains were human and began an investigation into the death, the release said.

The medical examiner did not disclose the cause or manner of death, according to its portal. The day and time of his death are unknown.

According to Pierce County Superior Court documents, Dill-Pickett was last seen March 1 when she and her ex-boyfriend, Kendrick Deshuan Bruce, 31, went to Ocean Shores to visit her adoptive father.

Dill-Pickett showed up to the visitation with obvious physical marks that she believed came from Bruce, according to court documents.

She also made statements saying, “If anything happens to me, Kendrick did it,” and said Bruce had threatened her in the past, saying, “No one will find your body,” according to court records.

Dill-Pickett’s friends said they received text messages from her phone after early March, but attempts to call and FaceTime her were declined.

Law enforcement matched a March 28 transaction at 7-Eleven from Dill-Pickett’s email with security camera footage showing Bruce making the payment and leaving. The same day, his CashApp account sent Bruce $150, according to court records.

Detectives interviewed the mother of Bruce’s child, who said he had been acting strangely since he came to live with her around March 5 or 6. He parked his Jeep Cherokee in the garage, which is unusual, she said. His car was also “exceptionally clean.”

When she told Bruce about Dill-Pickett’s disappearance, he said the two had broken up during their trip to Ocean Shores and that he had refused to go to law enforcement to clear his name.

A search warrant on Bruce’s Google account yielded searches such as “most common ways to commit suicide,” “how long does it take a dead body in an apartment to smell,” and “how to clean blood from a carpet.”

Bruce was arrested on May 14 and later charged with first-degree murder, unlawful disposal of remains and two counts of identity theft in connection with Dill-Pickett’s disappearance. His bond is $2,000,000.