Prosecutors charged Kendrick Deshaun Bruce months before the remains of Tomorrow Dawn Dill-Pickett were recovered and identified.
TACOMA, Wash. — The identification of human remains found in a wooded Pierce County area has added a significant development to a first-degree murder prosecution that began months earlier, when investigators still had not located Tomorrow Dawn Dill-Pickett.
Dill-Pickett’s former boyfriend, Kendrick Deshaun Bruce, was charged in May with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree identity theft and unlawful disposal of human remains. Authorities accused him of killing Dill-Pickett and engaging in financial and other activity connected to her identity after she disappeared. Bruce’s charges remain allegations, and guilt must be determined through the court process.
The case took a new turn after Pierce County sheriff’s deputies responded about 11 a.m. Sept. 23 to a heavily wooded area in the 7700 block of 176th Street East in Frederickson. Deputies had received a report of human remains and confirmed the discovery after reaching the site. Detectives and forensic personnel spent the afternoon processing the area and collecting evidence.
Officials initially could not identify the remains because of their condition. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently identified them as Dill-Pickett, who was 36. Available public information did not establish a final cause and manner of death or the exact date and time of her death.
The identification is notable because prosecutors had already filed a murder charge without having recovered Dill-Pickett’s remains. The earlier case relied on evidence described in court records, including communications, financial transactions, electronic data, searches of property and statements from people who knew Dill-Pickett and Bruce.
Dill-Pickett was last known to have been seen in person around March 1, according to accounts of court documents. A friend reported her missing April 1. Friends and relatives told investigators that messages later sent from her phone did not seem consistent with the way she normally communicated. They also reported being unable to reach her through calls or video chats.
As the investigation expanded, authorities obtained access to phone records, GPS information and other electronic evidence. Prosecutors alleged that financial activity involving Dill-Pickett’s accounts continued after she was last seen and that Bruce was connected to some of those transactions. Investigators also examined his vehicle and electronic accounts.
Court records cited in reports on the case describe internet searches investigators attributed to Bruce’s account involving incapacitation, decomposition and cleaning blood. Cadaver dogs alerted to several areas of a vehicle searched by investigators, according to accounts of the probable cause documents. Forensic personnel also reported finding material that tested positive for blood during a search of a residence. The prosecution’s allegations have not been proven at trial.
Bruce was arrested and charged in May while Dill-Pickett’s location remained unknown. The later recovery of her remains potentially gives investigators additional forensic evidence to examine, although authorities have not publicly detailed what was collected at the Frederickson site or said how the remains came to be there. Officials also have not publicly released information establishing how long they had been at that location.
The medical examiner’s identification resolves one major uncertainty in the case but does not by itself resolve the criminal allegations. Investigators can continue examining evidence from the Frederickson scene as Bruce’s case proceeds through Pierce County Superior Court. Authorities have not publicly disclosed all findings from the remains or the recovery site.
Author note: Last updated September 27, 2026.