Sandra Cantu

Sandra Cantu was an 8-year-old Tracy, California, girl who disappeared on March 27, 2009, from the Orchard Estates mobile home park.News10.net: Tracy Police Search... (March 28, 2009) Her body was discovered on April 6, 2009, stuffed inside of a suitcase, which was retrieved from a drained irrigation pond. Melissa Huckaby was arrested for Cantu's murder and sexual assault on April 11, 2009. Huckaby was a Sunday school teacher at nearby Clover Road Baptist Church, which is led by her grandfather, Pastor Lane Lawless.

On June 12, 2009, Melissa Huckaby pleaded not guilty to the charges of kidnapping, murder, lewd and lascivious acts on a child and rape with a foreign object. Monterey Herald: Melissa Huckaby pleads not guilty to charges in Sandra Cantu murder case(June 12, 2009)

On April 15, 2009, the Cantu family held a private funeral for the murdered girl. Several dozen people gathered at Fry Memorial Chapel for the memorial service, before Cantu's casket was carried by a horse-drawn carriage to the Tracy Mausoleum.Salon.com: Private funeral for Calif. girl found in suitcase

Sunday-school teacher Melissa Huckaby was arrested for Cantu's death on April 11, 2009. Huckaby, whose grandfather is a pastor at Clover Road Baptist Church, was charged with kidnapping and murder. Police did not reveal a motive but said Cantu was friends with Huckaby's daughter. The suitcase Cantu's body was found in on April 6, 2009, belonged to Huckaby.CNN: Sunday-school teacher arrested in killing of California girl (April 11, 2009)

Bizarre new details emerged in the case on May 10, with sources claiming that Huckaby and her grandfather were members of a small cult, and that Cantu had been violated with a screwdriver before her death.BNO News: Shocking new details in Sandra Cantu case (May 10, 2009)

Sandra Cantu lived with her mother, grandparents, two sisters and brother at the Orchard Estates mobile home park in Tracy, California. She is described as a friendly and happy child, but also one that would not openly get in a car with someone she didn't know, or without consulting her mother first. She was last seen on a video surveillance tape just after 4:00 p.m. PST on Friday, March 27, 2009. The surveillance footage was taken from a camera that Cantu's grandfather had installed the previous month. She was supposed to be at a second friend's house in the interim, but when she did not return home her mother contacted police.MSNBC: Where is 8-year-old Sandra Cantu? (March 31, 2009)

Although the police did not officially call Sandra Cantu's disappearance an abduction at first, six separate search warrants were issued in connection to two men on March 30, 2009. Four of these locations were homes within the mobile home park. Police did not release the names of the two men, nor were they officially called suspects.CNN: California girl, 8, disappears after playing with friend (March 31, 2009) MSNBC: Where is 8-year-old Sandra Cantu? (March 31, 2009) There are over 80 registered sex offenders within a five mile radius of Cantu's home, whom police say they have interviewed.CNN: California girl, 8, disappears after playing with friend (March 31, 2009)

In April, 2009, it was revealed that a seven-year-old friend of Huckaby's daughter, had been briefly missing on January 17, 2009. The unnamed child was returned home in a car matching the description of Huckaby's car, and was found to have benzodiazepines, a sedative, in her system. The Tracy police investigated the incident, but no charges were filed. The sister of the child believes that Huckaby drugged her sister.ABC News...a Precursor to Sandra Cantu's Murder? (April 21, 2009)