Missing Girl from Tracy found dead

[fleabones3]

Authorities found the body of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu in a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond near her California home on Monday.
Sandra Cantu, 8, disappeared on March 27. Her body was found at a dairy-farm pond near her Calilfornia home.

Sandra Cantu, 8, disappeared on March 27. Her body was found at a dairy-farm pond near her Calilfornia home.

The girl had been missing since March 27 from her home in Tracy, California. Police did not identify a suspect.

News of the girl's death devastated her family, Tracy police spokesman Tony Sheneman said.

"They have just experienced the unimaginable," Sheneman said.

The day Sandra was last seen, she came home from school, kissed her mother and left to play with a friend who lives a couple of homes away. A short time later, she left that home to go to another friend's home, according to a spokeswoman for her family.

The child was last seen by her family wearing a pink Hello Kitty T-shirt and black leggings.

Authorities identified her body by the clothes she was wearing, Sheneman said.

Earlier in the investigation, police released surveillance video that showed the child in the mobile home park where she lives -- skipping and happily swinging her arms on the day she disappeared. They had hoped to get tips with the eight-second video.
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* Tape shows Cantu in alley

On Monday, they got a tip about the dairy farm.

Workers on the farm were getting water from a retention pond when the black suitcase came to the surface of the water, police said.

"It is very difficult for everybody involved. We were optimistic that we would find Sandra alive," Sheneman said.

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[gmyers]

I was hoping they'd find her alive. Her mom and family are going to be devastated. Poor baby.

[SurferGirl]

That was so heartbreaking. After seeing the footage of the little girl on the news I was hoping that she would be found safe. I guess because she lived in Tracy which is only about an hours drive from here it made it extra hard.
What type of monster would do something like this to a child.
We all need to remember this little girl's family in our prayers.

Here is the most recent article from KCRA news.

http://www.kcra.com/news/19112110/de...10590104062009
Sandra Cantu's Body Found In Submerged Luggage
Luggage Discovered In Irrigation Pond
POSTED: 7:48 pm PDT April 6, 2009
UPDATED: 10:31 pm PDT April 6, 2009




TRACY, Calif. -- A body identified as 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was found inside a piece of luggage Monday in a San Joaquin County irrigation pond, Tracy police said. Officials said they are investigating the case as a homicide.

"This is an unimaginable loss for any parent. It's a very difficult loss for our community," Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said.

Investigators said they were able to identify Cantu's body based on the clothing she was last seen wearing.

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The girl was last seen March 27 inside Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, just off West Clover Road.

Farmworkers found a black, sealed case Monday while they were draining a pond near Bacchetti Road, about two miles from Orchard Estates.

Sheneman said police spent hours combing the area around the pond before the suitcase was recovered.

Raw Video: Police Say Girl's Body Found

"Farmworkers were transferring water from a collection pond to a field for irrigation a suitcase came to the surface of the pond, the farmworkers immediately notified the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office which in turn call Tracy Police Department," Chief Janet Thiessen said.

Officials in white suits removed the luggage from the pond shortly after 5 p.m. It was loaded into a van and transported to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in French Camp.



Investigators take a sealed container out of a San Joaquin County pond.


The luggage was taken into the county morgue where the body was identified.

An autopsy will be conducted Tuesday morning.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Sheneman asked that the community respect the family during this time.

Hundreds Gather For Vigil

Hundreds gathered to express their grief during a vigil at a community park near the mobile home park in Tracy Monday night.

Many people arrived at park after learning of the news. They formed prayer circles, sang and put together makeshift memorials honoring Sandra.

Family members and friends told KCRA 3's Richard Sharp that the find was the most unimaginable thing to happen.

Only mobile home residents were allowed into the residence park.
Copyright 2009 by KCRA.com. All rights reserved.

[Lild]

I have been watching Nancy Grace cover this story and was praying for this child and her family, it's so heartbreaking

[littlebuggy]

This is so heartbreaking. I was born and raised in this town, then lived there with my husband and two kids until 4 years ago when hubby joined the army. It was always such a close town....people and families had lived there all their lives....it's so hard to believe something like this can happen there...her family and friends are in my prayers.

[whatever]

While you ALWAYS hope for them to find them alive. If it were me I would just want closure either way. So sad....

[ElleGee]

ugh how horrible.. she was such a pretty little thing too

[fleabones3]

I know.. I was hoping and hoping she would be found. Now if we can just find Haleigh...

[SurferGirl]

This is a link to an update. So far the haven't given too much information.
This is so heartbreaking I do hope they catch that person before he/she can harm another child.
http://www.kcra.com/news/19115079/detail.html

[gmyers]

Whats scary is it could be one of her neighbors that watched her and then took and killed her.

[dv8grl]

Calif. Sunday school teacher booked in child death

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/...FsaWZzdW5kYXlz

TRACY, Calif. – A California Sunday school teacher was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl whose body was stuffed into a suitcase found in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested at 11:55 p.m., about five hours after she drove herself to the station at the request of police, according to Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

"She gave enough information to us during the course of the interview that probable cause was there to arrest her," said Sheneman.

A massive search for the child, Sandra Cantu, included hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials. The search ended April 6 when farmworkers who were draining the irrigation pond to water fields found a suitcase.

Pictures of the girl with dark brown eyes and light brown hair were posted all over Tracy, a city of 78,000 about 60 miles east of San Francisco.

The slain girl's aunt, Angie Chavez, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press early Saturday that she was happy to learn of the arrest.

"I want to know why she did it, if she did it," Chavez said.

Huckaby previously told a local newspaper that Sandra visited her home March 27, the day she disappeared. Huckaby also said she had left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing.

Huckaby is the granddaughter of Pastor Clifford Lawless, whose Clover Road Baptist Church was the subject of a police search. Huckaby taught Sunday school at the church.

Huckaby's family had been questioned at length during the investigation, and their homes and vehicles had been searched, Sheneman said.