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

[pink angel]

ACK! klaas can you please change the p.m. to a.m.?

Thanks in advance.

I had a pink moment and hit send before previewing.

[klaasend]

http://tracypress.com/


Alyssa Tristan signs a poster in memory of Sandra Cantu at one of the memorials for the slain girl outside the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park Tuesday afternoon. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Town mourns its lost child as police look for clues
by Jennifer Wadsworth / TP staff1 hr 20 mins ago


Police on Tuesday searched a church and talked to neighbors of a Tracy girl whose body was found crammed inside a suitcase and dropped into a pond a couple of miles northeast of where she lived.

FBI agents and Tracy police detective Keith Hooks marked as evidence a paper towel that was left by the fence of Clover Road Baptist Church, where police served one of a few search warrants Tuesday, including one in the mobile home park where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu lived and from where she went missing March 27.

As of late Tuesday, no arrests had been made and no suspects named. An autopsy is under way to determine how Sandra died, but Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman said he can’t say when the coroner’s office will release a preliminary report, let alone when they’ll say for certain how the Jacobsen Elementary School second-grader died.

Police have said very little about how close they are to finding a killer, though they’ve interviewed hundreds of people and plan to search several more homes “during the course of the investigation,” Sheneman said.

Investigators on Tuesday evening took a few items from the Clover Road church and looked inside the crawl spaces and a water heater shed out front.

The pastor of the church, 77-year-old Clifford Lane Lawless, told reporters that police questioned him and his wife, Connie, for three hours Monday night because Sandra used to go over a lot to play with their great-grandchild.

Lawless and his wife told reporters that they had nothing to do with Sandra’s disappearance.

"We're very open to them taking whatever they want today," Connie Lawless said. "We feel the more people they can eliminate, the quicker they will be able to get to the truth.”

The church sits near a dead-end country road just yards away from where Sandra lived.

Sheneman refused to name any suspects or “persons of interest” and shot down rumors that Lawless was a suspect.

"He has been interviewed, as have hundreds of people … We have no specific person that we are looking at this time."

Lawless, a pastor of the church since 1981, has no criminal history and no civil lawsuits against him in San Joaquin County, court records show. The only property he owns in San Joaquin County is his mobile home.

But the Clover Road Baptist Church seems as physically isolated from the rest of the city, one of the last buildings on a dead-end street, as it seems culturally set apart from other churches in town.

Several Tracy pastors said they don’t know that much about Lawless; he doesn’t join the 15 or 20 other pastors in town for Thursday prayer breakfasts.

Tim Heinrich of the Crossroads Baptist Church said Lawless declines to network with fellow pastors in town. Other pastors said the church has few events and focuses on church history because it disagrees with some of the tenets of others churches.

No one in the neighborhood surrounding Orchard Estates said they attend the Baptist church — surrounded now by yellow crime-scene tape. About a dozen neighbors said they don’t know anyone who does and that it has a tiny congregation.

Folks from a Jehovah’s Witness church across the street from Clover Road Baptist said they've never talked to anyone from the congregation. Pastors, members and elders of a handful of other churches in northern Tracy said the same thing.

The pastor’s name is the fourth to have come up in the missing person-turned murder investigation. Police served a search warrant on 60-year old martial arts teacher Frank Wohler, who lived behind Sandra’s home and said he kissed her on the lips two years ago just to be nice.

Christian Sinclair, 49 — who’s depicted in court records as abusive and alcoholic — was arrested last week for obstructing the investigation. Police searched his home, too.

Sinclair’s friend, David Slayter, 44, was then taken to the police station for questioning last week as the FBI and Stockton and Tracy police searched his home and took out several items.

The courts sealed 10 search warrants served up until Tuesday and will likely seal those ordered Tuesday and the several others Sheneman said will be served during the course of the investigation.

Dairy farm workers found Sandra's body Monday morning when they drained an irrigation pond to water nearby fields. Police said she wore the same pink “Hello Kitty” T-shirt and black tights she had on when she was last seen alive.

Investigators said whoever left her body in the pond must have been familiar with the rural outskirts north of Tracy.

“Someone would have to be familiar with that area to know to go there to place that suitcase,” Sheneman said Tuesday, adding that he knows of no link between Lawless and the black suitcase.

The little girl’s disappearance sparked a massive search that included 18 agencies and several hundred volunteers. It drew more than 1,000 tips and $26,000 in reward money.

Photos of the lively blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl plastered cars, utility poles and buildings across Tracy — a town of 82,000 — and in the Bay Area and southern Central Valley. Schoolmates said she was a popular student.

The tragic close to a 10-day search wielded a devastating blow for a town that has seen news that some of its residents are accusing of kidnapping and torture, that a teacher and softball coach allegedly downloaded child pornography and that a plastic surgeon is accused of molesting upward of 30 patients.

"This community has been tested severely," said City Manager Leon Churchill Jr. "There's a cultural ethic here. You're expected to be a good neighbor. This is a kinder, gentler place.

Longtime Tracy residents remember a small-town atmosphere that has given way to some big-city problems in the past decade, as the town began absorbing sprawl from the San Francisco Bay area.

"We have more people here and that's loosened serenity of this town," said Joe Atuna, 62, who's lived here for 25 years. "Tracy is getting bigger and scarier."

On Tuesday, Atuna and other mourners stopped by a makeshift memorial outside the complex where Sandra lived, shedding some tears and leaving a huge pile of stuffed animals, cards and other trinkets for a girl they say could have been one of their own.

Members of a local church youth group sang “Amazing Grace” and other hymns Tuesday, holding hands and swaying by the memorial, crowded by dozens of mourners during the day and hundreds at nightfall. Twin sisters Lilly and Layla James — both Sandra’s age — burst into tears after placing bouquets among the other gifts.

Sabrina Cason, 31, took her 5-year-old daughter, Alyssa, to drop off some purple lilies and said she had a hard time explaining what happened to Sandra to her three children.

"This has shaken our little town up," Cason said, "for her to be so close to home and this to happen. I think we all had a lot of hope that she would come home safely."

[Cappuccino]

I got an eery feeling reading that article - it just seems disconcerting any time I see a person acting reclusive yet is at the helm of a gathering of people be it religious or social.   Something just has my hair standing on end & I can't shake it.

Update: 
Coroner: Autopsy for Murdered Tracy Girl Will Not Be Ready for Four to Six Weeks
Created by Brian Shields on 4/7/2009 12:18:09 AM
http://www.kron4.com/News/ArticleView/tabid/298/smid/1126/ArticleID/961/reftab/36/t/Search-Warrants-Target-Church-Near-Mobile-Home-Park-Where-Sandra-Cantu-Lived/Default.aspx

[Tracygirl]

http://tracypress.com/


Alyssa Tristan signs a poster in memory of Sandra Cantu at one of the memorials for the slain girl outside the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park Tuesday afternoon. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Town mourns its lost child as police look for clues
by Jennifer Wadsworth / TP staff1 hr 20 mins ago


Police on Tuesday searched a church and talked to neighbors of a Tracy girl whose body was found crammed inside a suitcase and dropped into a pond a couple of miles northeast of where she lived.

FBI agents and Tracy police detective Keith Hooks marked as evidence a paper towel that was left by the fence of Clover Road Baptist Church, where police served one of a few search warrants Tuesday, including one in the mobile home park where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu lived and from where she went missing March 27.

As of late Tuesday, no arrests had been made and no suspects named. An autopsy is under way to determine how Sandra died, but Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman said he can’t say when the coroner’s office will release a preliminary report, let alone when they’ll say for certain how the Jacobsen Elementary School second-grader died.

Police have said very little about how close they are to finding a killer, though they’ve interviewed hundreds of people and plan to search several more homes “during the course of the investigation,” Sheneman said.

Investigators on Tuesday evening took a few items from the Clover Road church and looked inside the crawl spaces and a water heater shed out front.

The pastor of the church, 77-year-old Clifford Lane Lawless, told reporters that police questioned him and his wife, Connie, for three hours Monday night because Sandra used to go over a lot to play with their great-grandchild.

Lawless and his wife told reporters that they had nothing to do with Sandra’s disappearance.

"We're very open to them taking whatever they want today," Connie Lawless said. "We feel the more people they can eliminate, the quicker they will be able to get to the truth.”

The church sits near a dead-end country road just yards away from where Sandra lived.

Sheneman refused to name any suspects or “persons of interest” and shot down rumors that Lawless was a suspect.

"He has been interviewed, as have hundreds of people … We have no specific person that we are looking at this time."

Lawless, a pastor of the church since 1981, has no criminal history and no civil lawsuits against him in San Joaquin County, court records show. The only property he owns in San Joaquin County is his mobile home.

But the Clover Road Baptist Church seems as physically isolated from the rest of the city, one of the last buildings on a dead-end street, as it seems culturally set apart from other churches in town.

Several Tracy pastors said they don’t know that much about Lawless; he doesn’t join the 15 or 20 other pastors in town for Thursday prayer breakfasts.

Tim Heinrich of the Crossroads Baptist Church said Lawless declines to network with fellow pastors in town. Other pastors said the church has few events and focuses on church history because it disagrees with some of the tenets of others churches.

No one in the neighborhood surrounding Orchard Estates said they attend the Baptist church — surrounded now by yellow crime-scene tape. About a dozen neighbors said they don’t know anyone who does and that it has a tiny congregation.

Folks from a Jehovah’s Witness church across the street from Clover Road Baptist said they've never talked to anyone from the congregation. Pastors, members and elders of a handful of other churches in northern Tracy said the same thing.

The pastor’s name is the fourth to have come up in the missing person-turned murder investigation. Police served a search warrant on 60-year old martial arts teacher Frank Wohler, who lived behind Sandra’s home and said he kissed her on the lips two years ago just to be nice.

Christian Sinclair, 49 — who’s depicted in court records as abusive and alcoholic — was arrested last week for obstructing the investigation. Police searched his home, too.

Sinclair’s friend, David Slayter, 44, was then taken to the police station for questioning last week as the FBI and Stockton and Tracy police searched his home and took out several items.

The courts sealed 10 search warrants served up until Tuesday and will likely seal those ordered Tuesday and the several others Sheneman said will be served during the course of the investigation.

Dairy farm workers found Sandra's body Monday morning when they drained an irrigation pond to water nearby fields. Police said she wore the same pink “Hello Kitty” T-shirt and black tights she had on when she was last seen alive.

Investigators said whoever left her body in the pond must have been familiar with the rural outskirts north of Tracy.

“Someone would have to be familiar with that area to know to go there to place that suitcase,” Sheneman said Tuesday, adding that he knows of no link between Lawless and the black suitcase.

The little girl’s disappearance sparked a massive search that included 18 agencies and several hundred volunteers. It drew more than 1,000 tips and $26,000 in reward money.

Photos of the lively blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl plastered cars, utility poles and buildings across Tracy — a town of 82,000 — and in the Bay Area and southern Central Valley. Schoolmates said she was a popular student.

The tragic close to a 10-day search wielded a devastating blow for a town that has seen news that some of its residents are accusing of kidnapping and torture, that a teacher and softball coach allegedly downloaded child pornography and that a plastic surgeon is accused of molesting upward of 30 patients.

"This community has been tested severely," said City Manager Leon Churchill Jr. "There's a cultural ethic here. You're expected to be a good neighbor. This is a kinder, gentler place.

Longtime Tracy residents remember a small-town atmosphere that has given way to some big-city problems in the past decade, as the town began absorbing sprawl from the San Francisco Bay area.

"We have more people here and that's loosened serenity of this town," said Joe Atuna, 62, who's lived here for 25 years. "Tracy is getting bigger and scarier."

On Tuesday, Atuna and other mourners stopped by a makeshift memorial outside the complex where Sandra lived, shedding some tears and leaving a huge pile of stuffed animals, cards and other trinkets for a girl they say could have been one of their own.

Members of a local church youth group sang “Amazing Grace” and other hymns Tuesday, holding hands and swaying by the memorial, crowded by dozens of mourners during the day and hundreds at nightfall. Twin sisters Lilly and Layla James — both Sandra’s age — burst into tears after placing bouquets among the other gifts.

Sabrina Cason, 31, took her 5-year-old daughter, Alyssa, to drop off some purple lilies and said she had a hard time explaining what happened to Sandra to her three children.

"This has shaken our little town up," Cason said, "for her to be so close to home and this to happen. I think we all had a lot of hope that she would come home safely."

Do you know  if he  did an interview with the press? Does he sound coherent? Both times I saw him on TV he seemed to have others talking. Maybe he has dementia or something?
Also, I don't have access to the full police blotter for this area but was a break in at the church reported  at all in the past week? For some reason I am recalling a break in a few months back??? Could be wrong.
No one can answer why this man and this woman would be a party to this?
The talk in town is that she was abused before she was murdered. I don't believe the wife saying she was abused really is a clue. Also, they may have told them something during the questioning??? Also, we do not really know when Sandra's body was placed in the water, could have been the day before she was found and the minister could have found something that day.

A person interviewed is a member of the church, he states that suit case was stolen from the churches parking lot it was being donated for a rumage sale.

Synclair was questioned again according to the 11:00 news

[Tracygirl]

Was this the group of chruches he is refering to? there really is only a handful of churches in the area who are a part of it

http://www.tracyinterfaith.org/tim_member_churches.htm

[finngirl]

NG last night/LE officer:

not an irrrigation ditch but an overflow pond
which collects biomass from the nearby dairy

googled dairy biomass:
the pens/stalls which contain urine/manure/renderings
are flushed w/ water which is then directed to a designated pond

the manure contains methane gas
which undergoes anaerobic digestion in the collection site

so this child was dumped in a dairy toilet?

and the perp hopes/knows that the filthy water
will degrade DNA/other evidence?

_ _ _


re-dressing the body: a gesture of affection and/or remorse

IMO not difficult for an adult to dress a lifeless child
(either physically or in terms of the time required)

an adult, yes, but not a child's small body

I've undressed/washed/dressed many deceased adults
but always w/ the the assistance of 1-2 other people
(and before rigor manifested)

a co-worker who has performed the task w/ children
says it's easily accomplished by one person

[Blink34]

Family spokeswoman's past revealed

Lisa Encarnacion, who up a few days ago was the spokeswoman for Sandra Cantu’s family, said today she stepped back from that role when police told the family about her criminal past.
<snip>

http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story?page_label=news&id=2260894-Family+spokeswoman-s+past+revealed&widget=push&instance=special_coverage_bullets_right_column&article-Family%20spokeswoman-s%20past%20revealed%20=&open=&


At least the police were looking after the people who surrounded this family. That makes me even more confident about this investigation.

Very good perspective Pink. This infuriates me. Its like these people were victimized twice. I dont suggest that sometimes people can make bad decisions for which they end up turning their life around, in some cases I believe that. BUT BE UPFRONT.
What would make this woman think it was ok to hide that fact or that it would not come out? Furthermore, I am aware of some comments that she made about Leoanrd Padilla when he offered the reward for Sandra's safe return that make me realize the reason she told them not to accept it (they did take him up on his offer to post a reward anyway) was because the media attention may spotlight her criminal past. The reality is however, as we learned in Caylee's case and others is if someone offers to help that is reputable, they are not going to mind if you check them out and you should..
Thanks for posting this Pink
B

[leslee]

Do you know  if he  did an interview with the press? Does he sound coherent? Both times I saw him on TV he seemed to have others talking. Maybe he has dementia or something?
Also, I don't have access to the full police blotter for this area but was a break in at the church reported  at all in the past week? For some reason I am recalling a break in a few months back??? Could be wrong.
No one can answer why this man and this woman would be a party to this?
The talk in town is that she was abused before she was murdered. I don't believe the wife saying she was abused really is a clue.[b/] Also, they may have told them something during the questioning??? Also, we do not really know when Sandra's body was placed in the water, could have been the day before she was found and the minister could have found something that day.

A person interviewed is a member of the church, he states that suit case was stolen from the churches parking lot it was being donated for a rumage sale.

Synclair was questioned again according to the 11:00 news

Thank you for your insight... I too think this is just a reasonable assumption rather than any type of clue or "special knowledge". Your point about dementia is also possible, his wife was driving the car. The police have made it a point to say that the Pastor is not a POI. I guess it just makes it "good read" to point out the obvious. *sigh*

[Blink34]

I got an eery feeling reading that article - it just seems disconcerting any time I see a person acting reclusive yet is at the helm of a gathering of people be it religious or social.   Something just has my hair standing on end & I can't shake it.

Update: 
Coroner: Autopsy for Murdered Tracy Girl Will Not Be Ready for Four to Six Weeks
Created by Brian Shields on 4/7/2009 12:18:09 AM
http://www.kron4.com/News/ArticleView/tabid/298/smid/1126/ArticleID/961/reftab/36/t/Search-Warrants-Target-Church-Near-Mobile-Home-Park-Where-Sandra-Cantu-Lived/Default.aspx

Nope, I agree 100% Capp, my research on this guy is concerning

[Kimmy53]

I got an eery feeling reading that article - it just seems disconcerting any time I see a person acting reclusive yet is at the helm of a gathering of people be it religious or social.   Something just has my hair standing on end & I can't shake it.

Update: 
Coroner: Autopsy for Murdered Tracy Girl Will Not Be Ready for Four to Six Weeks
Created by Brian Shields on 4/7/2009 12:18:09 AM
http://www.kron4.com/News/ArticleView/tabid/298/smid/1126/ArticleID/961/reftab/36/t/Search-Warrants-Target-Church-Near-Mobile-Home-Park-Where-Sandra-Cantu-Lived/Default.aspx

I agree with you Cap... I am suspicious of anyone - be it pastor, construction worker, whoever.  Bad people hide among us everyday.  I feel that LE is being very meticulous about this investigation and are leaving no stone unturned. 

They are moving in a direction.  The FBI doesn't just flip a coin and decide to search somewhere randomly.  And certainly search warrants aren't just handed out like candy.  The following days will tell us alot - I believe.  This case is probably has top priority in the labs. 

I also feel the LE and FBI take these cases personally.  How can you not?  They are on a mission to find this creep.

I say if it finds the killer of this precious child, then turn the whole town upside down.

[Blink34]

http://blinkoncrime.com/2009/04/08/sandra-cantu-c…brating-sandrasandra-cantu-case-celebrating-sandra/

For Sandra’s Family, won’t you take a moment to leave a comment of praise or condolence for the doe-eyed princess we never met, but will never forget? I will be passing this link on to Sandra’s family.

[goodnmad]

I got an eery feeling reading that article - it just seems disconcerting any time I see a person acting reclusive yet is at the helm of a gathering of people be it religious or social.   Something just has my hair standing on end & I can't shake it.

Update: 
Coroner: Autopsy for Murdered Tracy Girl Will Not Be Ready for Four to Six Weeks
Created by Brian Shields on 4/7/2009 12:18:09 AM
http://www.kron4.com/News/ArticleView/tabid/298/smid/1126/ArticleID/961/reftab/36/t/Search-Warrants-Target-Church-Near-Mobile-Home-Park-Where-Sandra-Cantu-Lived/Default.aspx

Nope, I agree 100% Capp, my research on this guy is concerning

The ones who can "pass" scare me the most. Think Dennis Rader, Ted Bundy. People who appear "normal" but deep inside are killers.

Hmm, hope you will be sharing that research when it's appropriate Blink. 

[Heart]

Good morning all!

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but just now on MSNBC they reported that a member of the church informed LE that a suitcase resembling the one that Sandra was contained in was stolen from one of the vehicles on the chuch grounds.

[Rob]

Good morning all!

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but just now on MSNBC they reported that a member of the church informed LE that a suitcase resembling the one that Sandra was contained in was stolen from one of the vehicles on the chuch grounds.

most suitcases have the name of the owner on it. And tags from airports.

[goodnmad]

Good morning all!

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but just now on MSNBC they reported that a member of the church informed LE that a suitcase resembling the one that Sandra was contained in was stolen from one of the vehicles on the chuch grounds.

most suitcases have the name of the owner on it. And tags from airports.

if it had a name tag on it, would the perp be dumb enough not to remove it?

is that why someone is now claiming it was stolen? or was it really stolen?

from what I can tell so far, I think we will see an arrest and have at least a few answers sooner than later.

At least I hope so.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://blinkoncrime.com/2009/04/08/sandra-cantu-c…brating-sandrasandra-cantu-case-celebrating-sandra/

For Sandra’s Family, won’t you take a moment to leave a comment of praise or condolence for the doe-eyed princess we never met, but will never forget? I will be passing this link on to Sandra’s family.

Thank-you Blink

[no rose colored glasses]

Good morning all!

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but just now on MSNBC they reported that a member of the church informed LE that a suitcase resembling the one that Sandra was contained in was stolen from one of the vehicles on the chuch grounds.

Thanks, I find that odd, I wonder if the car was locked?

[Kimmy53]

Good morning all!

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but just now on MSNBC they reported that a member of the church informed LE that a suitcase resembling the one that Sandra was contained in was stolen from one of the vehicles on the chuch grounds.

Thanks, I find that odd, I wonder if the car was locked?

Odd is right.  This would leave me to believe that someone would have had knowledge of there being a suitcase - I wouldn't think that if you had a dead body on your hands, that you would just randomly look around in cars for a container.  If this is correct, someone knew there was a suitcase in that vehicle....Or was it just convenient to report a stolen suitcase, just in case it was found later??? Hmmm.

[Anna]

Has there been any announcement about any more press conferences today?

[Heart]

FBI Digs Under Church; Memorial For Sandra Grows
Expert Criticizes Police Response To Case; Sandra's Father Defends Officers

TRACY, Calif. (CBS13/AP) ―

As residents in this quiet Northern California community questioned who would stuff an 8-year-old girl's body in a suitcase and dump it in a pond, police Tuesday searched a local church and questioned the girl's neighbors.

"I hope they catch whoever did this. I lived here my whole life. I used to feel safe, but I don't anymore," said 19-year-old Melissa Landrum, who lives in the mobile home complex where Sandra Cantu was last seen alive March 27 and had known the girl since she was born.

The investigation has touched on everyone who lives in the complex, including a pastor who became a focus Tuesday. Investigators cordoned off Pastor Lane Lawless' home and Clover Road Baptist Church for a search after questioning him for three hours the night before.

The Clover Road Baptist Church was cordoned off Tuesday afternoon as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation combed over the property, hauling out items and bagging items found.

CBS13 cameras rolled as an agent from the FBI's Evidence Response Team crawled into an underground space and emerged with what appeared to be a pair of work gloves. The FBI has not commented on what they are searching for.

Officers searched the Lawless' home again Tuesday morning, along with four other homes in the complex, according to a maintenance worker who witnessed it.

Police point out that, contrary to some media reports, that Lawless has not been arrested, only questioned, "like hundreds of people," said Sgt. Sheneman. Officials stressed that they are not focusing on any one person in the investigation, but say the case is shaping up to head in a particular direction.

That direction, Sheneman said, is confidential. "To comment on that would compromise the investigation and I cannot do that," he said.

Despite officials' downplaying the significance of searching the pastor's home and church, retired FBI profiler Candace DeLong says authorities are legally obligated to justify their interest.

"They will have to have sworn before a magistrate they had reason to search that property," DeLong said. "They're not releasing that information now, but there has to be a reason he's a person of interest and they got a search warrant."

DeLong also believes that investigators already know the cause of death, but are not ready to release that information to the public. She says that, in 75 percent of similar cases, the killer will be a caretaker or relative of the child.

"The likelihood is that this is someone that saw her, that coveted her, that invloved her in his fantasies, then actoed out that fantasy," said DeLong.

The wife of Pastor Lawless says that they are cooperating fully with investigators.

"They took the usual stuff, phone, computer, things of that nature," said Connie Lawless. "We were very open to them taking anything they wanted to take. We were not at all disturbed by that. We feel that the more people they can eliminate the quicker they will be able to get to the truth of the matter."

Connie said she suspected that police were interested in her husband's church because Sandra often played at their house with their granddaughter. She said the Lawless family has nothing to do with Sandra's disappearance.

"It breaks our heart that someone would take such a sweet child," she said.

Officials say they suspect the culprit is a local resident, given the area that Sandra's remains were found in. She was stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into an irrigation pond, in a rural area about two miles from where she lived.

"I've lived here for almost 12 years, I've worked here for nine years," Sheneman said. "The location where Sandra's body was found I'm completely unfamiliar with. Someone would have to be familiar with the area to know to go there to place that suitcase."

A somber crowd gathered at a makeshift memorial for Sandra outside the mobile home park where she lived. Stuffed animals, flowers, candles and written prayers decorated the memorial as the ever-growing crowd stood mostly in silence.

One mourner fainted at the scene and was taken away by ambulance, according to CBS13 correspondent Laura Cole.

A local defense attorney and DNA expert that has worked on several famous cases -- including the Unabomber, O.J. Simpson and the Phil Spector murder trial -- says that critical details of the case will point police to Sandra's murderer.

"The fact that she was still clothed in the clothes she had [the day she disappeared] suggests to me that whatever happened probably happened very quickly," said Bob Blaiser.

Surveillance video showed Sandra Cantu skipping away from her mobile home park the day she disappeared, and Blaiser says that was opportunity the killer was waiting for.

"It may have been what attracted the person who kidnapped her, the fact that she was also alone," Blaiser said.

The fact that Sandra was found so close to her home suggests that the murder was a crime of passion, he added.

Blaiser criticized the Tracy Police Department's handling of the case, saying that they took too long to bring in scent dogs to track down the missing eight-year-old girl, a move he said could have "absolutely" saved her life.

"It's very sloppy police work," Blaiser said. "They can't think of everything, but that's sort of the very obvious thing that you expect them to think about."

Scent dogs did search the park and around Sandra's home the day after she went missing, and Blaiser says her scent was most likely gone by that point.

Sandra Cantu's father publicly defended the Tracy Police Department for their work in the case and expressed his appreciation for their dedication.

"They're doing everything possible," Daniel Cantu said. "I don't think anyone else put in this position could've done any better."

http://cbs13.com/local/sandra.cantu.church.2.979400.html