Elia Cantu
Credit: Rich Fury via Getty Images

The Salem Police Department is about to get a new detective… Primetime actress Elia Cantu has landed the role of Jada Hunter and will be on hand to help Rafe beginning July 19, as reported by Soap Opera Digest.

This will be Cantu’s first daytime role but she’s no stranger to acting. In fact, fans of the NBC soap may have seen her on various primetime hits such as Criminal Minds, This Is Us, Black-ish, Lethal Weapon, 9-1-1 and Mom, as well as the made for television movie A Cinderella Christmas.

More: Exit news, the vanishing of Days’ Jan

So, what do you think Rafe will need Jada’s assist with? Well, considering he’s knee-deep in trying to uncover who murdered Abigail, it’s highly likely that Jada will fall into that equation somehow.

In their bedroom, an anguished Chad hovers his hands over Abigail's lifeless body, sprawled over their bed

And we all know that the Salem PD could use all the help it can get, especially now that Eli and Lani have left the department. For those who missed that exit, Lani confessed to shooting her bio dad, TR, and was transferred to a facility near Washington D.C. where Eli followed in order to work with his old mentor Billy so he and the twins could be closer to Lani.

In the SPD squad room, Eli and Lani hold Jules and Carver

As for Abigail’s murderer… Leo had been hiding out in the DiMera tunnels at the time and was later in possession of her jewelry, some of which he gave to Clyde, who was arrested in connection with the murder. Then there was Lucas, who blacked out drunk the night Abby was stabbed — then woke up with a cut on his hand. And there are other Salemites who could very well have killed Chad’s wife so stay tuned as the latest murder mystery unfolds.

In his Salem Inn room, Lucas grimmaces as he looks at his palm

Since the character’s portrayer, Marci Miller, left Days of Our Lives, view our gallery featuring 10 actresses who could step in and play the ‘late’ Abigail DiMera.