SANDRA CANTU, 8, missing since 3/27/09 Tracy, CA #1 3/28/09-4/09/09

[Leroy]

wow - so the guy that apparently kissed her still LIVES in the mobile home park??? why wouldn't anyone report this???

something is not right about this!

Bottom line, what has this man done to a child or children before the kiss and after? I'm going to be sick.

NoRose - i am going to be sick with you    

[Blink34]

Today, I am proud of Nancy Grace. She asked the right questions. Did not get the right answers.

We need to clarify Mom and spokesperson's statements.. Did she come home, leave, play, come back and leave again to another friends house which is different than what we have heard?

How so? Her mom said the last she saw her was when she went to friend one.

Did anyone see this and believe she is not the victim of an abduction as LE has said?? No way.

[cookie]

she is the victim of abduction I believe...
poor baby...hope that she is found soon!

[no rose colored glasses]

Today, I am proud of Nancy Grace. She asked the right questions. Did not get the right answers.

We need to clarify Mom and spokesperson's statements.. Did she come home, leave, play, come back and leave again to another friends house which is different than what we have heard?

How so? Her mom said the last she saw her was when she went to friend one.

Did anyone see this and believe she is not the victim of an abduction as LE has said?? No way.

The child is 8 years old, how do you not know exactly what this child is doing? This child was not supervised properly in my opinion.

[no rose colored glasses]

she is the victim of abduction I believe...
poor baby...hope that she is found soon!

I can't figure this out, do they think she ran away from home, and is hiding somewhere in the mobile park? 

[cookie]

she is the victim of abduction I believe...
poor baby...hope that she is found soon!

I can't figure this out, do they think she ran away from home, and is hiding somewhere in the mobile park? 

don't know what their angle is NoRose...I am baffled as well.
what do they know that they are not disclosing?

[no rose colored glasses]

she is the victim of abduction I believe...
poor baby...hope that she is found soon!

I can't figure this out, do they think she ran away from home, and is hiding somewhere in the mobile park? 

don't know what their angle is NoRose...I am baffled as well.
what do they know that they are not disclosing?

I really do hope they are just not disclosing something.

[cartfly]

BLOCKED WEBSITE

Anyone see the age of the sister Simone Chavez is 10 years old. Just noticed from this article.

OT: Anyone having trouble with typing replys, my cursur keeps moving oup ::MonkeyConfused::and I cant see what I am typing?

[no rose colored glasses]

I wondered what the age of Sandra's sister was, so she is ten, and she has a brother that is 15, and I think she has one more sister, but don't know the age. Yes, this morning I was having trouble with posting, but I haven't for awhile now. 

[spring2]

I don't know why they are saying what they are saying and why they aren't expanding beyond the mobile home park.  I did see lots of fliers in windows, but wonder what all has been searched.  The LE presence was HEAVY in that park.  I don't believe an 8 year old has the willpower to hide out for that many days to "run away."  She couldn't elude LE that long either, especially with FBI there.  My LE buddies would let me know if they knew anything.  They do have some access to info in that area.  So I really think she got picked up and put into a car. 

Something that is VERY sickening is, while I was on my way there, I noticed field upon field upon field.  If they have to scour that, it won't be an easy task.  In the winter here is when it rains.  That's when everything grows and is green.  Another thing though, some fields have already been plowed.  So would a shallow grave be visible? 

I think I remember someone saying that a decaying body produced heat though too.  So would the helicopter pick that up?

[klaasend]

http://tracypress.com/content/view/17666/2268/

Man who kissed missing girl questioned   
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth     
Monday, 30 March 2009 

 
A man who lived in a trailer behind the one in which Sandra Cantu lives has been questioned three times by police, but he's no more a suspect now than anyone else, investigators say.


Police have questioned a martial arts instructor three times about his alleged sexual interaction two years ago with an 8-year-old Tracy girl missing since Friday.

Police and the family have confirmed that the man — whose name and age police, family and neighbors withheld — had reportedly kissed Sandra Cantu on the lips while she was swimming in the mobile home park’s pool two years ago. Sandra's 15-year-old brother Thomas Fortin suggested he might be in his 40s or 50s.


The man lives behind the home of Sandra, who was last seen around 4 p.m. Friday before the family reported her missing. More than 73 hours have passed since then.

No one answered the door today at the man’s trailer, and neighbors declined to disclose his name. He is not a registered sex offender, according to the California Department of Justice. In fact, the department lists that no registered sex offenders live in the mobile home park. Police already interviewed all the area’s registrants.

Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said police have questioned the middle-aged man along with everyone else in Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where the little girl lives with her mother and grandparents. Sheneman said police have come up with no suspects so far and still no evidence that the Jacobson Elementary School second-grader was kidnapped.

“It’s still a missing person’s case,” Sheneman said at an afternoon press conference. “There is no evidence that it’s an abduction.”



Fliers of the missing girl have been posted all over town. Glenn Moore/Tracy PressThe family said they have no suspicions about any one person just now, but that like the police, they haven’t ruled anyone out.

Sandra’s mother Maria Chavez talked at length to investigators again today, and begged the public via national and local TV newscasts to help her find her daughter. For the most part, the family has sheltered themselves inside their home from the media frenzy today, stepping out for a couple interviews later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the entire mobile home park has turned into a crime scene. Armed detectives wander the narrow streets and talk to everyone who enters the park. Tracy police stood guard at the park entrance and searched the cars of anyone who drove through.

Still, federal, state, county and city investigators have yet to turn up any clues leading to the girl’s whereabouts. Police did say today that they got about 150 tips, some of them credible, and that they have yet to go through all the surveillance tapes from nearby businesses, including a motel across the street from the mobile home park’s only entrance.

A volunteer search and rescue worker on Sunday found a bottle of hair dye, which she told police about. Police said they don’t know yet if that means anything.

Police said they’re confident that Sandra’s alive because they have no reason yet to believe otherwise. Searchers continued their hunt in the city’s southern side, between 11th Street and Interstate-580 today, but by this evening had learned nothing new about Sandra’s disappearance, Sheneman said.

A search of the four square miles around Sandra’s home turned up nothing by the third day of her disappearance, police said.

Sheneman said investigators worry about the mobile home park’s proximity to Interstate 205, because if someone picked up Sandra they could have taken her anywhere.

Still, Tracy police said the search extends no farther than Tracy’s rural edge. But police from other cities have joined to help, including some from Livermore and Modesto.

That brings the count up to 18 agencies that have helped in the search, including the FBI.
Local police said they can keep up the search and still juggle daily patrols because the department has gotten so much help from outside investigators.

“It’s an 8-year-old girl who’s been missing for three days,” Sheneman said. “That’s an exceptional case … we’re not going to wind down.”

Hundreds of volunteers have helped out, too, though many of them who joined the search during the weekend had to go back to work today.

Evidence of volunteer work outside the search can be seen around town, though.

Hundreds of missing-person posters are plastered around Tracy, on car windows, businesses, utility poles and at schools. A couple print shops in town have donated free color posters for volunteers to post today. The new posters show a more recent photo of Sandra with lighter brown hair.

Anyone with information about Sandra’s whereabouts is encouraged to call Tracy police at 831-4550, Tracy Crimestoppers at 831-6847 or The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678.

The FBI, the Tracy Crimestoppers and the private nonprofit Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation have offered a combined $7,000 reward for information leading to Sandra’s whereabouts.
 

[klaasend]

http://tracypress.com/content/view/17667/2268/

Hundreds crowd multipurpose room       
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth     
Monday, 30 March 2009 
 

Police talk to parents and students tonight at Jacobson Elementary School about the search for second-grader.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police at an informational meeting tonight pleaded with the public to share tips that could lead to the return of an 8-year-old girl missing since Friday afternoon.

More than 250 parents, students and reporters crowded the multipurpose room at Jacobson Elementary School to find some answers about what happened to Sandra Cantu, who attends the North Tracy school. Some asked police what they could do to help find her.

Police had little to tell the public, except that they still need help posting missing-person fliers, making colored copies of them and encouraging tipsters to give them a lead in an investigation that so far has come up dry.

Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman — the department’s spokesman — recapped what’s been done so far to search for the missing girl. He assured the public that the department and nearly 20 other state, federal and local agencies have 100 people working around the clock in the search. He said if they come across any leads, there are more teams — volunteer and professional — ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

In the meantime, he asked people to tell police about anything out of the ordinary, whether it’s that someone changed their appearance or hasn’t been seen for a few days when they’re normally seen all the time.

“They may seem insignificant when looked at individually, but there could be some common thread,” he said. “We are depending on information from the community.”
Police also urged parents to talk to their kids to find out if they knew Sandra or had talked to her recently. If so, he said investigators would like to interview them.

Investigators have already watched all the surveillance footage from a camera placed outside Sandra’s home as well as footage from cameras outside local businesses, including two nearby hotels. Nothing suspicious showed up, police told the public.

• People with information about Sandra’s whereabouts are encouraged to call the police tip line at 831-6958, Tracy Crimestoppers at 831-6847 or The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

• The FBI, the Tracy Crimestoppers and private Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation have offered a combined $7,000 reward for information leading to Sandra’s whereabouts. Donations of more reward money can be sent to Tracy Crimestoppers, Sheneman said.

• Those who want to volunteer to hang up posters may stop by the Tracy Fire Department’s administration building, 835 Central Ave., to pick up copies.
 

[Blink34]

I don't know why they are saying what they are saying and why they aren't expanding beyond the mobile home park.  I did see lots of fliers in windows, but wonder what all has been searched.  The LE presence was HEAVY in that park.  I don't believe an 8 year old has the willpower to hide out for that many days to "run away."  She couldn't elude LE that long either, especially with FBI there.  My LE buddies would let me know if they knew anything.  They do have some access to info in that area.  So I really think she got picked up and put into a car. 

Something that is VERY sickening is, while I was on my way there, I noticed field upon field upon field.  If they have to scour that, it won't be an easy task.  In the winter here is when it rains.  That's when everything grows and is green.  Another thing though, some fields have already been plowed.  So would a shallow grave be visible? 

I think I remember someone saying that a decaying body produced heat though too.  So would the helicopter pick that up?

Sorry to address the macabre. Yes, thermogenically equipped aerials can. To be honest in the worst case scenario, a field is the easiest place to find the deceased with a variety of means. Fields are not good hiding places for bodies in any way, they are also usually the first "pass" when it comes to a search effort. Meaning, I would be surprised if they had not done the fly bys on this already, sorry if upsetting but it is reality and protocol.  

[Blink34]

http://tracypress.com/content/view/17667/2268/

Hundreds crowd multipurpose room       
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth     
Monday, 30 March 2009 
 

Police talk to parents and students tonight at Jacobson Elementary School about the search for second-grader.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police at an informational meeting tonight pleaded with the public to share tips that could lead to the return of an 8-year-old girl missing since Friday afternoon.

More than 250 parents, students and reporters crowded the multipurpose room at Jacobson Elementary School to find some answers about what happened to Sandra Cantu, who attends the North Tracy school. Some asked police what they could do to help find her.

Police had little to tell the public, except that they still need help posting missing-person fliers, making colored copies of them and encouraging tipsters to give them a lead in an investigation that so far has come up dry.

Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman — the department’s spokesman — recapped what’s been done so far to search for the missing girl. He assured the public that the department and nearly 20 other state, federal and local agencies have 100 people working around the clock in the search. He said if they come across any leads, there are more teams — volunteer and professional — ready to respond at a moment’s notice.

In the meantime, he asked people to tell police about anything out of the ordinary, whether it’s that someone changed their appearance or hasn’t been seen for a few days when they’re normally seen all the time.

“They may seem insignificant when looked at individually, but there could be some common thread,” he said. “We are depending on information from the community.”
Police also urged parents to talk to their kids to find out if they knew Sandra or had talked to her recently. If so, he said investigators would like to interview them.

Investigators have already watched all the surveillance footage from a camera placed outside Sandra’s home as well as footage from cameras outside local businesses, including two nearby hotels. Nothing suspicious showed up, police told the public.

• People with information about Sandra’s whereabouts are encouraged to call the police tip line at 831-6958, Tracy Crimestoppers at 831-6847 or The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

• The FBI, the Tracy Crimestoppers and private Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation have offered a combined $7,000 reward for information leading to Sandra’s whereabouts. Donations of more reward money can be sent to Tracy Crimestoppers, Sheneman said.

• Those who want to volunteer to hang up posters may stop by the Tracy Fire Department’s administration building, 835 Central Ave., to pick up copies.
 

Thanks Klaas- I so hate to be doom and gloom, but everything I needed to know is in this brief...

.."anyone that has changed their appearance.."  They have a POI without saying so officially. How the He double hockeystick is there any other conclusion and how do you say she is coming back alive?? Who is missing with her that you know of that would not endanger her?? Because if you cant answer that, this is going in the wrong direction, imo...

[RiverWalk]

http://www.kcra.com/news/19043413/detail.html

Girl's Disappearance Not Considered Abduction

Search Continues After Child Disappeared Friday

POSTED: 4:01 am PDT March 30, 2009
UPDATED: 6:22 pm PDT March 30, 2009


TRACY, Calif. -- Police said Monday that an 8-year-old Tracy girl's disappearance is being considered a missing persons case and not an abduction.
Sandra Cantu was last seen at 4 p.m. Friday outside Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park.
Earlier, family members said she probably was abducted.

Sandra Cantu
Meanwhile, the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the return of the girl.
Volunteers continued their search Monday, while authorities were scouring surveillance video that recorded the girl playing in the mobile home community, located a short distance from the intersection of North Tracy Boulevard and Interstate 205.
"We are still very hopeful that she will be returned safely to us," said family representative Lisa Encarnacion, adding early Monday that it is "exhausting" for relatives to wait through the ordeal.
Encarnacion said relatives insist the girl was taken from the mobile home park and did not run away.
"They think that she has just been abducted," Encarnacion said. "And I know that the law enforcement is reluctant to say that at this moment because there is no concrete evidence to back that up."
However, officials said investigation is still a missing persons case and is not being considered abduction.
"She never mentioned anything to say that she was going to run away or she hates it there or nothing," mother Maria Chavez said. "She always told me she loved me."
Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said he does not think the girl's family was involved in her disappearance, and that he believes she is alive.
Officials said a surveillance video caught Cantu's going back and forth, and that the images are being used in the investigation.
However, the video is classified as evidence, Sheneman said, and won't be released for now.
Investigators said the girl was at a friend's house that afternoon.
Police investigated a man who reportedly kissed the then 6-year-old on the mouth at the park's pool. Sheneman said officials talked to that man, but nothing came of it.
"It was an incident that occurred two years ago that was never reported to the police," Sheneman said. "We have interviewed him and in all likelihood interview him again and continue to talk to him about some other issues."
At a candlelight vigil Sunday night, Sandra Cantu's father, Daniel Cantu, pleaded for her safe return.
"Please, bring her home," he said. "I love you, honey. Please come home soon."
Hundreds of law enforcement officers from eight counties, as well as the FBI and a dive team, have been involved in the search. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is also assisting in the investigation.
Sandra Cantu is 4 feet tall, weighs 45 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink Hello Kitty T-shirt and black leggings.
Anyone with information should call the Tracy Police Department at 209-831-4550. Sheneman said anyone wishing to volunteer in the search or donate money for the reward fund may call police.

[RiverWalk]

http://www.foxnews.com/

Click on the video on the right about Sandra.  Greta's interview from 3/30/09

[A's Fever]

Some kind of unspecified evidence has been found by police . . . this does not sound good.   



Posted: 10:14 pm PDT March 30, 2009
Updated: 10:49 pm PDT March 30, 2009

TRACY, Calif. -- Late Monday, Tracey police confirmed that a search of mobile homes at the park eight-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared from last Friday has turned up evidence, but the child has still not been located.

Police also searched a home in the Central Valley town of Oakdale. Investigators say they obtained search warrants based on info obtained thru interviews with residents. So far, no one's been taken into custody.

Officers continue to search the trunk of each vehicle leaving the mobile home park.

Earlier Monday evening, three unmarked FBI vans and a tow truck arrived at the park. A neighbor tells KTVU he saw federal agents removing evidence from another neighbor's house and that the tow truck was preparing to remove that neighbor's vehicle.

The girl was last seen around 4 p.m. Friday afternoon outside her home at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park near Interstate 205. Police say a surveillance camera recently installed by her family captured an image of the second grader as she was seen leaving her mobile home.

Family and friends of the missing girl are holding onto the belief that she will be found safe and sound. This is the third night they've held a candlelight vigil to keep hope alive.

Dozens of people gathered for the vigil just inside the front gates of the mobile home park where Sandra Cantu lives. The eight-year-old had just celebrated her birthday two weeks ago.

Monday afternoon, her mother Maria Chavez made a tearful plea for her daughter's safe return.

"Whoever took her, please bring her back home," said Chavez. "I miss her so much. I love her. I want her to know I love her. We're looking for her. We're doing the best we can to find her."

Monday evening, police met with hundreds of concerned parents at Jacobson Elementary School where Sandra Cantu is a student.

"We are depending on information from the community," said Tracy Police Sgt Tony Sheneman.

One parent, whose daughter is friends with Sandra and lives near the missing girl, told police she saw a suspicious black Jeep Cherokee in the neighborhood around the time Sandra disappeared.

Local resident Kim Bravo was visibly shaken.

"It just worries me. We're kind of new out here and it hurts as a mother. It really does," explained Bravo

Bravo's daughter Aliah Peralta describes Sandra as being friendly and kind to everyone.

"She'd talk to anyone. She just came up to me when I met her and asked me what my name was," said Peralta.

Police and the FBI say they've received more than 150 tips, including some credible leads.

Investigators have interviewed registered sex offenders in the area and plan to re-interview a man living in the park who kissed Sandra on the mouth at the community pool two years ago

Police re-searched the 100 mobile homes in the neighborhood, but still say they have no person of interest or evidence that Sandra has been harmed.

" just hope they find her. It's been a long time It was really cold last night, and if someone has her, just let her go," said neighbor Anthony Camarena.

Police are reviewing hours of surveillance video from nearby businesses and have searched foreclosed homes and businesses in the area.

On Monday, the reward for anyone who provides information that help police to find Cantu went up to $7,000.
Copyright 2009 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/19051010/detail.html

[sirensong]

I am shocked and so saddened by this story.  I lived in Tracy for 22 years, so it really hits home.  The freeway is so close to that location, if she was abducted and driven away in a car, no telling where she could be.  There are alot of fields in that location, and many roads that are easily hidden from view and not traveled often.  Especially at night.  I have a gut feeling she is not far from her home.  Alot of places and roads to be taken and hidden from view.  Please pray for this little girl. 

There were two boys that were from Tracy, found dead in Castro Valley (I think) and the murderer(s) have never been caught.  I never could fathom how a family could go through something like that and not lose their mind.  I still think of them.

[Cappuccino]

So sorry, I saw that the thread was started later tonight....first I want to say I will continue to pray for this child & her family.   I have to catch up on what has been released thus far, I've only skimmed posts but my gut tells me this is a pedofile abduction, seems like someone could have been watching her or that neighborhood to know there was a definite window of opportunity...I pray I'm wrong.   I'll catch up more thoroughly tomorrow.

Ill say goodnite with this question:   When are legislators & judges going to get it thru their thick skulls that pedofiles are not curable & their recidivism is a given!!   Ugh, its just too frustrating.

[Nut44x4]

Two men questioned about missing Tracy girl
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
 Police searched six locations in and around the mobile home park where an 8-year-old Tracy girl vanished, investigators revealed late Monday.
The search warrants were served on property and vehicles associated with two men, who were interviewed by police in connection with the disappearance of Sandra Cantu, who failed to return to her home at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park on West Clover Road on Friday, said Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

"They are persons of interest," Sheneman said. "Information was gathered from leads generated from the community and information gathered in interviews with the two people. We were searching for information that would lead to the whereabouts of Sandra."

Four of the search warrants were served inside the mobile home park, and the others were served in Tracy and Oakdale (Stanislaus County), Sheneman said. All items collected during the searches were taken to an FBI laboratory in Sacramento for analysis, he said.

Sheneman did not disclose what relationship, if any, the two men had with the Cantu family or why they attracted attention, but he said investigators also were focusing on associated vehicles.

"The two men are not related to each other, and they do not live together," he said.

The men were not arrested and were not named as suspects.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/31/BA7K16PM1Q.DTL