An arrest has been made in the murder of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu in the Tracy, Calif.The suspect is 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, a neighbor whose own daughter was one of Sandra’s playmates, sources say.
Melissa is a Sunday school teacher, and granddaughter of the pastor of a nearby church that was searched extensively by police investigators Friday.
Soon after, Huckaby drove herself to the police station, where she was questioned until early Saturday morning.
Sources tell reporters that Huckaby told four different stories of what happened the day the 8-year-old girl disappeared — inconsistency that prompted further inquiries from investigators.
"She gave enough evidence during the course of the interview that probable cause was there to arrest her," Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told reporters.
They reported that at 2:25 a.m. Saturday, police drove Huckaby out of their headquarters in an unmarked car, headed for the San Joaquin Jail, where she was booked on charges of kidnapping and murder. She is being with arraignment set for Tuesday and without bail.
Police Chief Janet Thiessen assessed "We have information that by the time Sandra Cantu was reported missing to us, she had already been murdered."
She would not elaborate on Sandra's death any possible motive.
No other arrests have been reported.
In a phone interview on Friday, Huckaby declared that Sandra visited her home March 27, the day she disappeared. Huckaby also said she had left a suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing.
Sandra’s body was found 10 days after she was reported missing, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a farm pond.
Miss Cantu's disappearance had left the whole city wondering how a little girl could just vanish so close to home.
The last time Sandra’s mother saw her alive, the little girl was going outside to play with friends, and surveillance video taken in their trailer park showed Sandra happily skipping on the trailer park's grounds.
The murdered girl's aunt, Angie Chavez, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press early Saturday that she was happy to learn Melissa’s arrest.
Chavez said "I want to know why she did it, if she did it". She added that she had no indication whether Huckaby could be a suspect.
Tracy Police Chief Janet Thiessen said at an early morning news conference, “investigators had worked on the case tirelessly”.
Thiessen stated "We have information that Sandra, by the time she was reported missing to us, that she probably had already been murdered".
"It has helped us to bring Sandra home, again not in the way that we would've hoped, but that was out of our hands shortly after she went missing."
Melissa is a granddaughter of Pastor Clifford Lawless whose Clover Road Baptist Church was the subject of a police search. She taught Sunday school at the church and lived with Lawless in the Orchard Estates Park that also was Sandra's home.
Sandra's body was released from the San Joaquin County Coroner's office. She will be interred at the Tracy Mausoleum.
A marker with the little girl's name on it is being prepared. The public place for mourning has also moved from the mobile home park where Sandra lived to Fry's Memorial Chapel.
Story to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment