Sandra Cantu -- Found Deceased 4/6/09 -- Melissa Huckaby Pleads Guilty To Murder

Julie, Tish, J4A, Piper, thanks so much for your kind words guys. Onward and upward!

I wish Sandra Cantu could've been kept alive. I hate how these children must die to gratify their sexual predators' appetites.

Cantus Hope to Block Autopsy Release

June 17, 2010

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - Attorneys for the family of Sandra Cantu, the eight-year-old Tracy girl who was kidnapped, murdered, then stuffed in a suitcase are seeking to block the release of her autopsy report.

Attorney Stewart Tabak says Cantu's mother and sister filed a request Thursday for a temporary restraining order on the release, citing the report's graphic content.

Tabak says the public already knows enough of the “horrific” details of the case.

On Monday, a judge lifted a protective order on the report and other documents in the case against Melissa Huckaby. The Sunday school teacher later pleaded guilty to killing 8-year-old Sandra.

Tabak says the family is still considering whether to appeal the decision on the other documents, including a grand jury transcript due to be released Friday.

http://www.kgoam810.com/article.asp?id=1845081

Grand jury transcripts released in Huckaby case
Saturday, June 19, 2010



STOCKTON, CA (KGO) -- Melissa Huckaby is a mother who taught Sunday school and she seemed unlikely to be a killer, but a just-released grand jury transcript paints a very different picture.


Huckaby is doing life for kidnapping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. The 1,900 page transcript, released on Friday, portrays her as a calculating woman who thought she could talk her way out of anything.

The grand jury transcripts show for the first time just how much evidence police had against Huckaby. Everyone is also getting a glimpse into her suspicious behavior after she kidnapped and killed Sandra.

She left quite a trail of evidence for investigators to find and even seemed to try to draw attention to herself. According to the transcripts, Huckaby tearfully ran up to investigators at a vigil for the missing girl and said she found a note saying Cantu's body was in a suitcase and give the address of where it could be found. Police later discovered Huckaby wrote the note.

She also told police someone had stolen her black suitcase. Police also discovered a post-it note in her car with the address of the irrigation pond where Cantu's body was later found.

"She more or less put herself in the hands of the FBI as a suspect. She really drew red concentric circles on her forehead with her behavior," says former FBI profiler Candice DeLong.

DeLong says even though it may look like Huckaby wanted to get caught, DeLong sees her behavior differently.

"I don't happen to believe people want to get caught. What I do believe, is oftentimes, they don't think things through. They think they're smarter than the police," says DeLong.

ABC7 asked DeLong about Huckaby's behavior once Sandra's body was found. According to the documents, Huckaby texted her grandmother, first writing, "I see they say it's a crime scene" and then "I hope she wasn't sexually assaulted."

This was well before police had said anything about Sandra being sexually abused. DeLong calls this a consciousness of guilt.

"It's not unusual for criminals of a certain type of personality to really need to talk about what they did, to play with others, to hint," says DeLong.

The documents are full of explicit details about how Sandra was sexually abused, beaten and killed. The medical examiner is quoted as saying she suffered a constellation of injuries. The specifics surrounding her murder are what her family had hoped to keep sealed. On Friday, Sandra's uncle, Joe Chavez, lashed out at the media outlets that argued for access to the documents.


"Which, in my opinion, is nothing less than trying to look up the skirt of a dead 8-year-old little girl," says Chavez.

Two days after Cantu disappeared, Huckaby invited Sandra's big sister over for a sleepover with her daughter. Miranda Chavez did spend the night and told the grand jury Huckaby only mentioned Sandra's disappearance once asking Miranda if they had found any evidence.

Prosecutors say Huckaby checked herself into a hospital eight days after the murder for swallowing a razor blade.

According to the grand jury transcripts, prosecutor Thomas Testa said Huckaby entered the hospital on April 4, 2009 -- two days before the discovery of Sandra Cantu's body.

The documents show that Huckaby told investigators she accidentally swallowed the blade while sleepwalking. But Testa told jurors that the action showed the "consciousness of guilt."

Huckaby was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Authorities say they have no motive for the killing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

See video in article:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7507239&rss=rss-kgo-article-7507239

Records: Girl's killer 'calm, calculating'

June 19, 2010

Excerpt:



Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy, testified that Sandra's killer showed a "calm, calculating mind at work."

The way the body of 8-year-old victim was placed in the suitcase after the killing showed the work was likely premeditated, Omalu said during the July 2009 hearings. He testified that Sandra suffered mightily before she died of suffocation and was undoubtedly sexually assaulted.

"This was not something heat of the moment," Omalu said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100619/ap_on_re_us/us_girl_in_suitcase;_ylt=AoWsO.KprWCSCY6RHWgBKyJH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTM4amsxc2lmBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjE5L3VzX2dpcmxfaW5fc3VpdGNhc2UEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDcmVjb3Jkc2dpcmxz

"This was not something heat of the moment," Omalu said.

*************

This was Melissa Huckabee selfishly, sickly fulfilling her sexual fantasy.............. Making her sex fantasy a reality............

Why did she KILL Sandra Cantu? To keep her quiet permanently? Was murder a part of her sex fantasy? Or just a coverup for her sex fantasy?

Grand Jury transcripts show Huckaby repeatedly sought attention during search for Sandra Cantu

By Sophia Kazmi and John Simerman
Contra Costa Times
Updated: 06/19/2010 10:02:53 AM PDT

TRACY — During the search for Tracy 8-year-old Sandra Cantu and then for her killer, Melissa Huckaby wanted everyone to know her black Eddie Bauer suitcase was missing.

The day Sandra disappeared, she sent a text message to the girl's mother, Maria Chavez. Chavez said she thought it was odd; she had never before received a text from Huckaby.

"Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4 p.m. I don't know if that makes a difference or not," the message read.

"At that time, I ... wasn't worried about her suitcase," Chavez testified. "I was worried about my daughter."

In 1,850 pages of grand jury transcripts released Friday, dozens of witnesses laid out the evidence that led to an indictment against Huckaby, who kidnapped Sandra on March 27, 2009, took her to a nearby church, sexually assaulted her with a rolling pin and killed her.

She then carefully put the little girl's body into the black suitcase and dumped it in a pond full of manure. The suitcase was found 10 days later.

Huckaby, 29, is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to kidnapping and killing Sandra.

During testimony recorded in July, several other witnesses recounted Huckaby's obsession with the missing suitcase in the 10 days after Sandra disappeared. She seemed to talk about it every chance she got.

She mentioned it to her grandmother, a neighbor and an assistant manager at
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Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where Huckaby and Sandra lived. She talked about it with employees of Sutter Tracy Hospital, where she had been admitted for reportedly swallowing razor blades. She even told her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Plowman, of Hayward, whom authorities believe Huckaby had drugged in the past — with the same drug found in Sandra's system, in the same church where Huckaby taught Sunday school and where she took Sandra.

Story falls apart

The day after the girl was reported missing, a hysterical and hyperventilating Huckaby went to authorities saying she found a note on lined notebook paper. The misspelled blurb stated Sandra's body was locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in water at Bacchetti and Whitehall roads.

The officers asked her to sit, and FBI Special Agent Michael Conrad said he found it strange that she immediately went into a flat calm, telling them she had a suitcase stolen from her the previous day.

They commented to each other how unusual it was that a woman who reported losing a suitcase "should be the one woman out of everyone in this complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the stolen suitcase was used to hide the child's body," Conrad said.

During an April 6 search of Huckaby's home after the suitcase was recovered, FBI agents found a notebook with "Cute but psycho. Things will even out" printed on the cover. On the pages they found indentations matching the letters from the note.

Another FBI agent said Huckaby told authorities the suitcase was large enough to contain a child's body.

Police repeatedly searched the area of the ponds, including on the night Huckaby reported the note, according to the grand jury transcripts. Tracy police Detective Timothy Bauer said they could not send in divers because the pond was filled with manure and other waste. Cadaver dogs were ineffective due to the stench and methane gas, Bauer said.

On April 6, a farmworker discovered the suitcase after it had surfaced.

The autopsy

Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Sandra, found — based on lacerations to her lower lip — that she was smothered to death.

There was evidence of rubbing alcohol in her body; investigators found a half-empty bottle of rubbing alcohol in the church. Lab tests found traces of Alprazolam, or Xanax, the anti-anxiety drug that Huckaby was prescribed and allegedly fed Plowman and another Tracy girl.

Later, an FBI lab detected Sandra's DNA on a metal rolling pin found in a kitchen drawer at the church.

At her sentencing, Huckaby said she acted alone, and claimed Sandra did not suffer. She said she did not sexually molest the girl.

But Omalu described a painful sexual assault.

He said what struck him was the "meticulous nature" of the crime.

Sandra was redressed neatly, with her black leggings folded tidily at her lower thigh. Her plastic Hannah Montana sandals were placed at the bottom of the suitcase, and her body folded in a "perfect fetal position" inside the case, Omalu testified.

"This was not something heat of the moment. This was a very calm, calculating mind at work."

That pointed to a woman, he said.

"A guy's not going to even dress her, is he?" prosecutor Thomas Testa asked.

"No, no," Omalu replied. (He'd) dump her."

Staff writer Kim Santos contributed to this story. Contact Sophia Kazmi at 925-847-2122. Contact John Simerman at 925-943-8072.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15330332?nclick_check=1

Here is a link to the 1,923 page grand jury transcript.

http://dig.abclocal.go.com/kgo/PDF/People_vs_Melissa_Huckaby_transcript.pdf

It is chilling thinking about Sandra's 11-year-old sister Miranda staying the night at Huckaby's house two days after Sandra was murdered.

Details of case are important to understanding it

By Donald W. Blount
Record Managing Editor
June 20, 2010 12:00 AM

The San Joaquin County courtoom was packed Monday as we awaited Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus' ruling on documents from the Sandra Cantu murder investigation.

It was last month that Melissa Huckaby, 30, pleaded guilty to the murder of her 8-year-old neighbor in Tracy.

This was a case that garnered national attention.

Who after all, wouldn't be riveted by the video images of the young girl skipping out of sight, the last time she was seen in public alive?

Who would not be horrified when it was revealed that her body had been discovered in a suitcase in a dairy irrigation pond?

Throughout the trial Lofthus had kept what she called a "protective" order in place.

Anyone associated with the case was barred from speaking about it. Trial records including grand jury reports, search warrants, autopsy reports, and other documents remained sealed.

And yet The Record, Bay Area News Group and The Associated Press joined in an attempt to obtain those records.

On Monday, just hours after Huckaby had been sentenced to life in prison without parole, Lofthus was to make her ruling.

There were at least seven attorneys in the courtroom, a number of family members and enough sheriff deputies to hold a law enforcement officers' ball.

Lofthus allowed each attorney to offer comments before she announced her rulings.

"The media in a case like this is like a spoiled child, they just don't like the word "no," said Stewart Tabak, one of two attorneys representing the family of Sandra Cantu.

Those words jumped out at me because they were so off base.

Seeking documents of this case wasn't about the media getting its way but about transparency.

Mike Klocke, editor of The Record wrote about this just a few weeks ago.

"From our standpoint, transparency and accountability in government, the courts and other public entities is essential. It is not because we seek gruesome details or photos. We have no idea what has been kept under wraps.

"The case is 'the state' against Melissa Huckaby. And the state's citizens have a right to information so that they can gauge whether the defendant was suitably charged, whether law enforcement properly handled the investigation and to understand potential motives.

"... We're seeking records access and public comment from those involved in the case so we can adequately report and make informed decisions about what should and should not be published."

It was clear that this was a difficult decision for Lofthus. She was charged with a decision that could contribute to a family's unending pain or mask a public's quest to know.

"As much as it pains me, the public has a right to know," she said in explaining why some of the grand jury exhibits would be unsealed.

And in discussing her reason for not releasing other information such as autopsy photos, Lofthus said: "I have every confidence in the mainstream media, what concerns me are the fringes of the mainstream media who do not engage in true ethics."

She said she was concerned about Sandra Cantu's family and "putting the images in the hands of the untrustworthy."

Remember that once information is made public it is available to anyone, not a select few and standards vary from one organization to another.

Our responsibility lies in reporting the story accurately, serving as a watchdog to assure that proper procedures were followed and questions answered.

Beyond that, we care about reporting the story and trying to make sense of this senseless death.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100620/A_NEWS0804/6200309/-1/NEWSMAP

Can you imagine the rage Miranda and her mother feels about that having Miranda spend the night after what she had done to Sandra........ It's absolutely sickening! I do not know how the family could control themselves in the courtroom. It was a horrific slap in the face. And then tell Sandra's mom she didn't suffer and she wasn't raped. I'm sorry the death penalty wasn't imposed on this beast.

I wish I had not watched this video............

Maybe I really didn't want to see this evidence...Sandra's body is folded up in that carry on bag. The rolling pin appears to be stainless steel from the picture.........she had half a bottle of rubbing alcohol in her liver besides the meds in her system

What a cruel, savage, vicious act to inflict on a child, the suffering is unimaginable. May you rest in peace, sweet Sandra. God help the Cantu family in dealing with the loss of this beautiful child.

Tracy detective on paid leave while Huckaby comment investigated

By Sophia Kazmi
Contra Costa Times
Updated: 06/24/2010 04:51:42 PM PDT

TRACY — The Tracy Police Department confirmed Thursday that one of its detectives is on paid administrative leave while the department investigates a comment he made to convicted murderer Melissa Huckaby at the time of her arrest.

Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman did not elaborate, however, saying he is prohibited from discussing the details of why Detective Nate Cogburn has been on leave the past few weeks. But according to recently released grand jury transcripts, Cogburn made a statement that may have violated Huckaby's Miranda rights just minutes after her April 10, 2009, arrest for murdering and kidnapping her 8-year-old neighbor, Sandra Cantu.

Cogburn, who has been a police officer since 2004, told prosecutor Thomas Testa he deleted an audio recording of the comment.

"I — at the time when I deleted it, I thought it was possible I sounded — I was frustrated, emotionally upset," Cogburn told Testa in a court hearing outside the presence of the grand jury. "I just figured I would delete it. And — in the moment I did it, I realized it was a mistake. However, I determined at the time I could just document that in a — in a narrative report form."

The detective said the department doesn't have a firm policy about booking audio recordings into evidence.

Sheneman, however, said the department's usual practice for a murder investigation as large as Huckaby's is to book all recordings of
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interviews and contacts into evidence.

Lead Detective Tim Bauer stopped interviewing Huckaby the night of April 10 because she invoked her right to an attorney, according to the transcripts. After they stopped talking, Cogburn entered the room and told Huckaby she was under arrest. As he escorted her to the booking area, Cogburn said Huckaby told him — without provocation — "I didn't do it. I didn't kill her."

Cogburn said he may have told her she might want to go back and tell Bauer she didn't do it, but he couldn't specifically recall. No one else was present during the exchange, and later Cogburn realized his recorder had been running.

A crying Huckaby returned wanting to talk. Bauer told Testa that he reread her rights before interviewing her again. She then claimed the death was an accident.

Detective Ryan Knight told Testa that Cogburn said the comment was something along the lines of if she didn't go back to talk to Bauer, she would spend the rest of her life in prison or she would rot in hell.

Exhausted from a long investigation, Cogburn said he may have bragged to Knight about what he said.

Testa said by phone Thursday that the Tracy department self-reported the incident. He said the issue had no bearing on the case or the plea deal that Huckaby accepted May 10.

Huckaby was sentenced last week to life in prison without parole for killing and kidnapping Sandra. The girl's body was found stuffed in Huckaby's suitcase, which had been dumped in a Tracy irrigation pond.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_15370239

Melissa Huckaby's parents speak out for first time on NBC's 'Today'

By Sophia Kazmi
Contra Costa Times
Updated: 07/02/2010 02:21:11 PM PDT

Melissa Huckaby's parents did not see any signs that their 29-year-old daughter could kidnap and kill a child, they said in a live interview Friday on NBC's "Today."

"We are so baffled," Huckaby's mother, Judy Lawless, told "Today" host Matt Lauer. "There was no warning signs. She's never, ever, you know, displayed any kind of anger issues."

Huckaby, a former Tracy Sunday school teacher, was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole for kidnapping and killing her 8-year-old neighbor, Sandra Cantu.

Lawless said she has since gone through many emotions, including anger at her daughter, "for the destruction" she caused.

Huckaby has struggled with emotional issues since reportedly being raped by a police officer when she was 19. The details surrounding the claim remain unknown.

As a result, said Brian Lawless, Huckaby's father, she never got the mental health treatment she needed. Whenever she was admitted into a facility, she would tell the doctor it was "just a bad moment." The doctor would write it off and release her.

"She was very good at covering things up," he said.

Huckaby has since been diagnosed bipolar schizophrenic.

Sandra disappeared March 27, 2009. A massive search for the second-grader ensued, capturing the attention of national news media. Ten days later, the girl's body was found stuffed in a black suitcase in an irrigation pond about two miles from the mobile home
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park where she and Huckaby lived. An autopsy showed she had been drugged and sexually assaulted.

Investigators first noticed Huckaby the day after Sandra's disappearance, when she told them she found a misspelled note on the ground saying Sandra was locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in the water, and that her suitcase had disappeared the same day as Sandra.

Other circumstantial evidence — including items found at the church where Huckaby taught Sunday school and where her grandfather was the pastor — eventually made her Tracy police's prime suspect. On the night of April 10, 2009, a crying Huckaby broke down and told police Sandra death's was an accident. She was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing the child.

Her aunt, Joni Hughes, told Lauer that she spoke with her niece after the sentencing, and that Huckaby cried "a lot."

"She feels so terrible for what she's done," Hughes said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15429166

Love the sinner but despise the sin...I pray everyday that I can do so...It is difficult but I have forgiven in certain circumstances as it is not my position to judge...Forgive but not forget, and ask that God have mercy on their soul.

Cantu autopsy report on trial

by Jaclyn Hirsch / Tracy Press
Jul 23, 2010

STOCKTON — A trial date has been set for September of next year to prevent the release of the autopsy report of slain 8-year-old Tracy girl Sandra Cantu.

The trial, which will begin Sept. 26, 2011, at the San Joaquin County Courthouse in Stockton, will determine a permanent ruling on the release of the autopsy report. The decision is up to the county sheriff’s office.

A preliminary injunction put in place last month has kept the report sealed, and Sandra’s family has fought tirelessly to keep the document private.

However, those privy to what’s in the report have said the information from the autopsy has already been revealed in other court documents released last month after Sandra’s neighbor, Melissa Huckaby, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and murder of the 8-year-old girl in March 2009.

Prosecutor Thomas Testa said last month that the autopsy report is written in technical medical terminology, and most of the details were spelled out when the doctor who performed the autopsy testified before the grand jury. The grand jury transcripts are public information and were unsealed when Huckaby was sentenced last month.

Stewart Tabak, the lawyer representing Sandra’s family, said a senate bill that protects the rights of families could prevent the need for a trial.

Senate Bill 982 would allow family members to request autopsy reports and other evidence remain sealed if their child had been murdered.

A Senate committee on July 15 unanimously approved the bill, which was introduced by Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta. Angela Chavez, Sandra’s aunt, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of the bill.

Tabak said he was unsure of how soon the bill could be put to a vote.

http://www.tracypress.com/view/full_story/8865159/article-Cantu-autopsy-report-on-trial?instance=home_news_lead_story

I certainly hope they don't release the autopsy reports and pix. I remember when Dale Earnhardt died in FL, Teresa had to fight really hard to keep those photos and reports from being made public.

There are certain things that we, as the public, don't need to see. Teresa's dad and brothers lived about 1/2 mile from me and we had been friends for many years. I knew Teresa's brothers when they were just starting to race at our local track. When Dale died, in 2001, these boys were grown men, and they were very upset at the thought of those pix being published.

C'mon, why do we want to see such?

I don't want to see any pictures and we probably already have more than enough details about what that monster Huckaby did to Sandra.

Tracy events to honor Sandra Cantu

March 07, 2011 12:00 AM


TRACY - Sandra Cantu would have been 10 years old Tuesday. She would have celebrated over cake and food with her family.

Two years after her kidnapping and murder, her loved ones want to share that celebration with the Tracy community. And they want to remember Sandra's blissful spirit rather than her tragic end.

On what would have been her 10th birthday, family members are holding an all-day party for Tracy's children - a sort of birthday hop - through various stops where children can enjoy free frozen treats, gymnastics play, safety education and more.

"Sandra was such a happy little girl. I don't want her birthday to be a sad day," said Janet Anderson, Sandra's cousin and the event organizer.

Anderson said her niece's birthday celebration will be open to Tracy residents to thank them for their support.

"I just hope that it brings smiles to their faces and they enjoy the day," she said. "It's a celebration."

Read more:

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110307/A_NEWS/103070310

Sandra would have been 10 years old today......

"Happy Birthday" to Sandra Cantu
in Heaven!

Happy Birthday Sandra.

Sandra Cantu's autopsy files ordered sealed for good

By Sophia Kazmi
Contra Costa Times
Updated: 08/17/2011 06:55:46 AM PDT

The autopsy report for Sandra Cantu, the 8-year-old Tracy girl who was killed in 2009, will forever be sealed from public view.

Under a 2010 state law, Sandra's family requested the report be sealed. The sealing is not automatic. A request must be made by a qualified family member -- a biological or adoptive parent, spouse or legal guardian -- after a person is convicted and sentenced for committing the crime.

Sandra was drugged, sexually assaulted and killed, then stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in an irrigation pond about two miles from her Tracy home on March 27, 2009. Her neighbor, 30-year-old Melissa Huckaby, was arrested on April 10, 2009, four days after the suitcase surfaced.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18693629

Author chronicles Sandra Cantu case

Today marks four years since Tracy girl's murder

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Record Staff Writer
March 27, 2013 12:00 AM

~Snipped~

Dittrich, author of several crime books and an Ohio veteran law enforcement officer, chronicles the story behind Sandra's disappearance in her latest book, “Searching for Sandra,” recently published by Crime Street Press.

She reveals some new facts, including:

• Two weeks from the exact date of Sandra's disappearance, panicked investigators went to the trailer park believing Huckaby was about to attempt to kill Sandra's older sister, 11-year-old Miranda. Huckaby had texted Sandra's mother, Maria Chavez, asking her to send Miranda over.

• Huckaby thought about leaving the suitcase in front of Sandra's home so her mother would find it.

• Two days before the murder, Huckaby searched the Internet for waterway locations in the area. She also searched California's list of sex offenders immediately after. The searches suggest the killing was no accident.

Read more: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130327/A_NEWS/130329904

Oh, this is just too sick.
Terrible and evil.
May she live to rot in prison.

I remember Huckaby's fake remorse at her sentencing. I already thought she was a sick monster who needed to rot in prison for the rest of her life, but these new facts show that she is even more evil and sadistic than I thought.

I'm so sorry Sandra!

Justice4all wrote:Author chronicles Sandra Cantu case

Today marks four years since Tracy girl's murder

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Record Staff Writer
March 27, 2013 12:00 AM

~Snipped~

Dittrich, author of several crime books and an Ohio veteran law enforcement officer, chronicles the story behind Sandra's disappearance in her latest book, “Searching for Sandra,” recently published by Crime Street Press.

She reveals some new facts, including:

• Two weeks from the exact date of Sandra's disappearance, panicked investigators went to the trailer park believing Huckaby was about to attempt to kill Sandra's older sister, 11-year-old Miranda. Huckaby had texted Sandra's mother, Maria Chavez, asking her to send Miranda over.

• Huckaby thought about leaving the suitcase in front of Sandra's home so her mother would find it.

• Two days before the murder, Huckaby searched the Internet for waterway locations in the area. She also searched California's list of sex offenders immediately after. The searches suggest the killing was no accident.

Read more: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130327/A_NEWS/130329904

Unreal! She's more evil than I originally thought.

Celebrating children citywide
Friday, March 11, 2016 4:45 am

"...A citywide birthday celebration for murder victim Sandra Cantu took place Tuesday during the daylong Tracy Celebrates Children event, which offered a plethora of free activities and services for local children at businesses throughout town.
Sandra was kidnapped and killed in 2009, just weeks after her eighth birthday, and would have turned 15 on Tuesday.

Tracy Celebrates Children originally debuted in 2011 and was organized by Sandra’s cousin Janet Anderson and family friend Joyce Shepherd, with the support of Sandra’s family...."


http://www.goldenstatenewspapers.com/tracy_press/our_town/celebrating-children-citywide/article_3d91fa84-e724-11e5-89a0-23d6deb429c9.html