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

[danabar]

Hope this hasn't already been posted.  This is a another vid of Sandra leaving on youtube.

To me it looks like she is wearing a backpack or a purse of something.  I heard LE said no.  It just doesn't look like a shadow to me.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1j5R-sVIRA

[klaasend]

Hope this hasn't already been posted.  This is a another vid of Sandra leaving on youtube.

To me it looks like she is wearing a backpack or a purse of something.  I heard LE said no.  It just doesn't look like a shadow to me.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1j5R-sVIRA

It's the same video but better quality and I agree she is wearing a backpack.  LE has said no, that it was a shadow but I disagree.

[Blink34]

I have run the gamut of "its a shadow" to maybe it is a backpack.

As Klaas will attest (sorry I bugged you all day) I was prepared to think it a shadow as well. I have reviewed this video a bazillion times. Me thinks it is a purse. NOT a backpack. Watch her swing around her arms, then at the V E R Y  last second, she "crooks" her left arm as if securing a handbag?

[Dihannah1]

I think that in today's Society - the most important lessons you can teach your small children ..before they become Sandra's age.
Strangers and or Adults who children meet in their Neighborhoods/ Apts/ Condo/
1. Adults * do not chose children as friends
2. Adults do not need a child to help them - Do anything .. not look for a Puppy, Help them in their Yard, Need their assistance ..for any reason. None.
3. Adults without children in their lives " Do not play with Toys" If you are lured by an Adult with a Toy or video game .. Say NO and get away from that person as quick as possible.
And last but least - Never listen to the Orders of an Adult you do not know -
As in a Stranger saying Come into my House, Get in my Car ..etc. 
Get away from that person and find someone you do know and tell them about that person. 

This is what Sick people do - they try to use their Authority as an Adult on to little kids .. Kids are taught from day one ... Listen to an Adult. I think that this law of the land needs to be revised !  Kids should not have to live in Fear ..they just need to know the basics .. of what NOT to do .. And what to do if put into certain situations.
Not that this is a cure all. Because kids are loving happy little beings and they don't understand .. But I think that if its explained to them every so often as they age. They will not be afraid or have fear, if anything they will feel stronger and more confident if God forbid they are in a situation with a stranger or with any adult for that matter.

WOW - that is a great list of info - I am printing it and putting it up for my kids to memorize!

It was great advice,  I just sent it to my daughter who lives in NY and has a 5 year old.   I know she keeps an eye out, but one can never be TOO careful!  Thanks for that thoughtful list!

[klaasend]

Blink - if you are still online I may have something...

[spring2]

I have run the gamut of "its a shadow" to maybe it is a backpack.

As Klaas will attest (sorry I bugged you all day) I was prepared to think it a shadow as well. I have reviewed this video a bazillion times. Me thinks it is a purse. NOT a backpack. Watch her swing around her arms, then at the V E R Y  last second, she "crooks" her left arm as if securing a handbag?

I was just looking at this video again.  Look to the right of her.  There is her shadow. 

[Deenie]

Your welcome Dihanna1

[spring2]

I went to the admin building this morning.  I had been called by someone I left my name with and that's where she told me to go.  Last night at 9ish, I called to make sure. I kept telling her that on the news they were saying go to Linne Rd.  She said, no, this is where the search volunteers are going to be.

Well, that is where the trained people went.  Civilians went to Linne Rd.  So I made the trek down there again.  I don't really want to talk negative about the police department, but I think they wasted some volunteer resources. 

What I did today...  I took down fliers with her with the dark hair and put up fliers with her with the lighter hair.  I was actually by the Tracy In Shape that the boy who had been tortured ran into half naked.  The girl I was with pointed out a few houses that one was where he lived, but she couldn't remember which one exactly.  Definitely didn't look like a neighborhood that something like that would be happening in.  There is a school a few blocks up the road.

At the admin building, there were a ton of people who looked like military of some sort and many different agencies with their search and rescue teams.  I saw some people with their dogs too.  I left there and went and got my fliers. 

I came home and actually went back to Tracy for dinner.  I drove out to the bridge where they had searched the water.  It's pretty desolate up in that area.  Lots of farm land.  There is still an officer stationed at the front of the mobile home park.  About every news van imaginable is in the Microtel parking lot across the street.  I specifically was watching the air to see if I saw any air activities tonight, but if there were any, I didn't see them.  There are a lot more hotels in that area than I saw when I first went there.  There's also a Best Western right outside the park too.  And quite a few others across Tracy Blvd.  I'll watch the 10 pm news and let you know if there's anything new there.

[spring2]

Hi Dihannah!

Long time no see!  This one is in my neck of the woods 

[Dihannah1]

Hi Dihannah!

Long time no see!  This one is in my neck of the woods 

Hi Spring!  I'm still around, just lurking and reading nowadays.   Seems everybody posts my same thoughts, so no sense, in beating a dead horse, .   These cases are really starting to get to me.   Started with Natalee, for a couple years, and now we have all these lil one's, helpless the sickos in our own country, let alone across the world.   It just saddens me.  So I choose to read, stay caught up and quite until, I am in a position  to take action (God forbid another should come up), though we know in this society, it's not going to get better.   Keep up the great work!

Love all my Monkey friends!

[Dihannah1]

Hi Dihannah!

Long time no see!  This one is in my neck of the woods 

I meant to mention, I had two in my neck of the woods and I worked side by side with Tim Miller, which was an honor.  He may get involved in this case as well.  I know what you are going through and you are a true hero for helping out.   You are doing a great service and should be proud.  Keep your head high and I will keep you and the family in my prayers.  We just have to have at least ONE good ending!

[Dihannah1]

I just popped in to post, but will go back to lurking.  You all are doing a great job, so for the innocent children, keep it up.

God Bless all you Monkeys and all your hard work!

[Maven]

Spring that is great you volunteered! I'm sad that there was nothing found today tho.

I watched that video many,many times and it does look like a backpack or something on her shoulder, but when I look at her shadow I don't see anything like that.

I hope she is found soon!

[Blink34]

Spring, sorry you had a bit of a time.. I am very proud to know you and the fact that you volunteered your time for Sandra and her family is invaluable.  Thanks for any updates also.

Blink

[klaasend]

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090405/A_NEWS/904050320/-1/A_SPECIAL0263

Tracy shows its character in search


By Tara Cuslidge
April 05, 2009
Record Online Editor
It took me more than a half-hour to drive less than a mile in Tracy on Monday.

My route began at the Orchard Estate Mobile Park, the last place anyone saw 8-year-old Sandra Cantu before she disappeared March 27. It ended at the home my husband and I rent near El Pescadero Park.

It was almost 9 p.m. and the vigil for Cantu had ended. A minor traffic jam ensued. Cars lined the parking lot across the street from the mobile home park all the way back to Interstate 205.

A flier taped to the car in front of me gave reason for it all: "Please come home safe Sandra!" To my right, another said: "We're praying for you."

It's been a little less than a year since my husband - a Richmond engineer - and I decided Tracy would be the place we'd make our first home.

We weighed the positives and negatives of Stockton, closer to my work and family; Manteca, closer to his family, and Tracy, the happy median that meant dual commutes.

In Tracy, the price was right, the house was nice and the locale seemed friendly.

Nearly every shopping trip to the local grocery store starts with someone engaging me in a conversation. There's always a person willing to offer a tip on how to perfect my homemade candy. And our neighbors genuinely care about us, made evident by the compassion they showed when our home was broken into in December.

But Stockton was my home town, where I spent most of my time awake and the place I really called home. "I only sleep in Tracy," I once told a friend.

That changed the day after Cantu disappeared, and I suddenly became aware of the character of my new city.

A quick stop at a fast-food restaurant near the intersection of Tracy Boulevard and Clover Road had me staring eye-to-eye with the beautiful little girl.

In bold, red letters, the flier said: "MISSING."

Within hours, everyone knew.

A neighbor stopped me last Sunday - knowing I work for The Record - to ask if I'd heard anything "breaking and fresh." No. Just what we reported.

The same day, my husband responded to a knock on the door. A Girl Scout troop from the Bay Area was trying to help the search. On the table when I got home was a new flier, urging residents to leave no old refrigerator or shed unchecked.

By Monday I was at that vigil, recording video, watching the sorrow unfolding as a journalist. On nearly every street corner between Cantu's home and mine, residents handed out fliers.

"I already have one," I told a woman. "Please take it anyway," she said. I did.

I noticed as I drove around the city of 81,000 late last week that I, too, was hoping to see her somewhere, anywhere, walking along the street, safe and out of harm's way.

Tracy has had a lot of bad news lately - the sad story of Kyle, the captive teen, and recent arrests of alleged sex offenders - but the city and its residents have showed a determination to find Cantu that I have learned is a cornerstone of Tracy life.

All of Tracy is hoping she'll come home. And we'll keep watching until she does.

Contact Online Editor Tara Cuslidge at (209) 546-8276 or tcuslidge@recordnet.com

[no rose colored glasses]

Thanks for the updates. And Spring2 thanks for your help I'm sure Sandra's family and friends and everyone is very thankful. 

[cookie]

all of you  Monkees rock! what a bunch of sweet caring monkees there are here..
thanks to everyone in the area for doing your part on "behalf" of all of us...Rest assured that if God forbid something horrible like this happened near me, I would be out searching, passing out fliers etc....I passed out fliers and had one in my car window..(the only one that I ever saw here in my area ) of Madeleine McCann...I was in 2 airports during the time that she  first went missing...O'Hare and also In Orlando and left fliers on the tables and in the bathrooms there...heck,,,ya have 2 hours to kill waiting for flights, might as well do something useful right? Anyway, it made me feel that I was doing something to help find her...she is still missing,but who knows,,,it only takes 1 person to see the fliers and to spark a memory of seeing that child..or any missing child...
carry on monkees with your truly good work of helping children...I am so touched by all of this, you can't imagine....
xxxxx

[no rose colored glasses]

all of you  Monkees rock! what a bunch of sweet caring monkees there are here..
thanks to everyone in the area for doing your part on "behalf" of all of us...Rest assured that if God forbid something horrible like this happened near me, I would be out searching, passing out fliers etc....I passed out fliers and had one in my car window..(the only one that I ever saw here in my area ) of Madeleine McCann...I was in 2 airports during the time that she  first went missing...O'Hare and also In Orlando and left fliers on the tables and in the bathrooms there...heck,,,ya have 2 hours to kill waiting for flights, might as well do something useful right? Anyway, it made me feel that I was doing something to help find her...she is still missing,but who knows,,,it only takes 1 person to see the fliers and to spark a memory of seeing that child..or any missing child...
carry on monkees with your truly good work of helping children...I am so touched by all of this, you can't imagine....
xxxxx

That was great of you cookie    You know, I know LE is saying there is no backpack/purse it is a shadow, I see something and it just doesn't seem like a shadow. My point is, maybe LE has a reason to say this to the public, she may very well have a pack of some kind, but they just want the public to believe she doesn't for some very good reason. 

[Blink34]

at this point I am thinking they needed to explain why they waited on releasing it. Jennifer Kesse's case, a POI walking from her car video was held for a month, which was a huge mistake, imo.

[no rose colored glasses]

at this point I am thinking they needed to explain why they waited on releasing it. Jennifer Kesse's case, a POI walking from her car video was held for a month, which was a huge mistake, imo.

Yes, it was.