Sandra Cantu #2 4/09/09 - 4/15/09

[k9ohana]

Melissa huckaby's suitcase? Strange story

http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story?article-Woman%20in%20mobile%20home%20park%20reported%20missing%20suitcase%20=&page_label=home&id=2298054-Woman+in+mobile+home+park+reported+missing+suitcase&widget=push&instance=home_news_lead_story&open=&

very strange...

Woman in mobile home park reported missing suitcase
by Jennifer Wadsworth
04.10.09 - 04:01 pm

(I've snipped out portions of this article to reply to.  My comments in bold blue)

It’s a huge suitcase, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby said in a phone interview today, waterproof, charcoal-trimmed and has an Eddie Bauer logo on the front.

Farmworkers discovered a suitcase that generally matches that description submerged in a dairy lagoon two miles north of mobile home park where Sandra lived. Huckaby has lived there, too, for a year with her grandparents Clifford Lane and Connie Lawless, after having moved up from Southern California, she said.

We see from the above that the suitcase supposedly is waterproof.  Am wondering if along with Sandra's body, the bag had been weighted down with something?  Just not so sure it could have been 'submerged' so easily otherwise. 

Sandra went missing on March 27, the same day and in the same late-afternoon hour that Huckaby said the black suitcase disappeared from her driveway.

Sandra had come over earlier and asked to play with her 5-year-old daughter, Huckaby said. But Huckaby didn’t want her daughter to play because she had to pick up her toys. So Sandra left for another friend’s house.

“So I talked to the assistant manager at the mobile home park and asked him to keep an eye out for this suitcase, someone took it,” Huckaby said. “I also told some older kids to look out for it. I didn’t think much then because, you know, kids were getting out of school and I thought that maybe someone, maybe someone walking by just took it.”

Huh??  Kids were getting out of school, were they?  Then why did she say earlier in this article that Sandra (who supposedly had been to school and already back and playing with friend) had already come over earlier, plus had been to a friend's house.  And the suitcase supposedly disappeared AFTER this, but around the same time Sandra disappeared.  The kids weren't getting out of school, they'd BEEN out for some time.  Something is hinky with this part of her explanation!!   

After Sandra left, her oldest sister Miranda went to Huckaby’s house, too. Huckaby asked Miranda if she could watch her daughter for her while she went down the street to the church. Connie Lawless was home, too.

Sooooo... Connie was home, but Huckaby asked Miranda to watch her daughter?  Why???  Why wouldn't Connie just keep an eye on her?

Huckaby teaches Sunday school at Clover Road Baptist Church, her grandfather’s church just down the street from the mobile home park. She spruces up the church classroom every few months, she said, and had packed up in the suitcase with everything she needed to re-do the room that day. (Really?  So why did Williams say it was for a rummage sale?)

I am familiar with how Sunday School teachers 'redo' their rooms every few months.  That means she was going to put up new pictures and decorations, likely with an Easter/springtime focus.  Others have mentioned that Huckaby had packed the suitcase with cleaning supplies, and why would she put those in a suitcase.  I don't think there were cleaning supplies, but pics and decorations to redo a room, not clean it.  That's just my opinion tho.  And great question, why did Williams say the suitcase was for a rummage sale, when Huckaby is saying she was using it to tote things around. 


Huckaby then set the packed suitcase on the driveway by her dark purple Kia SUV — the same one FBI agents and Tracy police detectives towed and searched Tuesday night. But she forgot her cell phone and keys inside the house, so she went back in for about 15 minutes to find them. She couldn’t, so she picked up the spare key and left.

When she got to the church, Huckaby’s grandmother called and said she found her keys and cell phone. Huckaby said that’s when she realized she had left the $200 suitcase outside. When her family went out to get it, they said it was gone.

Uh huh.. interesting.  She forgot her cell phone and keys at home.  But when she got to the church, she got a phone call from gma telling her about the phone and keys.  How did Huckaby take that call?  Her cell phone being at home and all.    

So okies, lets say she took that call on the church phone, INSIDE the church.  It was a Friday afternoon, the church has 14 other members, likely wasn't even open that day with a church secretary and all.  And even the pastor evidently didn't have a key to the church (which is stranger than strange), because Williams had to let him in that day.  Huckaby had left her keys at home with the phone.  Soooooooo.. How did she get INSIDE in order to take the call from Gma?   Are we to actually believe there was a "spare key" to the church on her spare key keyring? 

Nice catches Wynks.....especially the time line issues with the kids getting out of school

[flossy]

My husband just said the news had some special report (they broke into the middle of the newscast) that something big was going on right now in Tracy.  He said a helicopter was circling above a farmhouse in which someone was holed up.

My husband has been wrong before, though if he's only heard half of something.  I'm going to check it out.  I'm not banking on his assessment being accurate yet, lol.

 

Please disregard this post I made.  I think my husband was either confused or........confused.

I don't think anything's going on right now.  I can't figure out why they would have broken into the newscast, but I'm finding nothing online about any live action at this moment.

[flossy]

Klaas, if you want to delete that post of mine, I totally understand - don't want to work anyone up if there's no validity to it.

[klaasend]

Flossy - you have added a disclaimer.  Unless it's the old stuff about locating her body, then it must be new.  Let's just wait and see.

[leslee]

wyks that WAS a good summary and I have a question? In the first reports hadn't Sandra gotten a ride home from school and was playing with a 5 yr old after school then went home and then back out? Was this Melissa who gave her a ride home from school?

[k9ohana]

Nothing on news 10 live online right now....

I agree with Wyks "IMO, she just digs herself in deeper, with every word she says. " And again, with all of the connections between these people and the church I just can not see how they/it is not involved in some way.

*crossing fingers* arrest soon please

[Wyks]

Was suspects not mentioned at the press conference.  This may imply a type of cult implication.

I read a while back that the drugging aspect of these crimes against children could be the reason that many do not come forward in later years.  There is not memory.  Abuse and pornographic filming can take place in a relatively short period of time.

Janet

Yes.  And with children who've grown up, there are memories, but they have been repressed.  Memories are stored in our body cells.  Our body remembers every single thing done to it.  But our brains are capable of seperating those memories from our conscious thinking, in effect shoving those memories so far back we don't even know they are are.  The brain does this so the victim can survive.  It may take years yearrrrrrrrrrsssss, for one tiny thing to happen in the life of the survivor, that brings forward even one tiny memory being stored in our body cells.  That's called a trigger.  It could be as simple as someone walking by wearing cologne and the smell of that triggers a memory in the survivor.  From that point on, the memories *can be* unravelled, one by one, with the help of a therapist.  Often the survivor themself is  shocked and surprised at the memories they didn't even know they had deep inside. 

It will take great effort of ethical therapists to help in retrieving those memories.  It can be done, and it likely will take a long amount of time in therapy.  And it can be done without the therapist leading, suggesting, or "planting" memories, or using hypnosis.  A child who has been drugged as part of the abuse, it's typically not a good idea to use hypnosis with that person to retrieve the memories of what occured while those drugs were given.  Trust tends to be one of the hugest factors in dealing with the retrieval of memories. 

   

[Blink34]

Good Gravy, what an afternoon.

Everything we need to know about what happened and by whom is in Melissa's statement, of that I am 100%. Noticably, she left out whether Williams was at the church when she was there, AND the "rummage sale"...

I want to stop and commend the Investigators in this case.. Can you imagine in an emotionally charged case like this what it is like to know what happened and still be charged with abiding protocol and building the case from an evidentiary perspective? I work with these guys, I COULD NEVER be one of them, I would be in jail. Yeesh.

[mymonkey]

I might need to hide after making this statement but, I have a gut feeling that is very strong, a female is the

person responsible for Sandra's murder.

You may be right, is Melissa married, and what I'm finding odd is she spent several days in ICU for internal bleeding, but is not commenting any further on this. Could someone have been kicking or punching Melissa, hence the internal bleeding?

I don't know Rose I have been busy today and not keeping up, its just a strong feeling I have. Grands have been on spring break so I had mimi duty last week which means no news for me unless Hannah Montana had it on her show.

[Wyks]

Yep exactly all the things I was thinking but couldn't put words to it. No wonder the detective didn't want to say anything, it is not all that difficult to get from point A to point B on this one.

I am still not clear on one thing, how did Sandra get from the MHP to outside the park? Maybe the mom as she was leaving asked Sandra if she wanted to "help" her?

That's a good question!  It seems by what they've said so far, (if we are to believe any of it), that Sandra was looking for something to do, perhaps bored, walking back to see if her other friend could play yet.  This woman in her neighborhood, mom of her friend, a church lady, perhaps asking for her help for a few minutes, I can see where she may have thought it would be an ok thing to go with.  Sadly enough. 

It sure wouldn't be as weird as some dude coming up and saying please help me find my puppy.  In that kind of thing most kids know to scream and run the other way. 

[no rose colored glasses]

I might need to hide after making this statement but, I have a gut feeling that is very strong, a female is the

person responsible for Sandra's murder.

You may be right, is Melissa married, and what I'm finding odd is she spent several days in ICU for internal bleeding, but is not commenting any further on this. Could someone have been kicking or punching Melissa, hence the internal bleeding?

I don't know Rose I have been busy today and not keeping up, its just a strong feeling I have. Grands have been on spring break so I had mimi duty last week which means no news for me unless Hannah Montana had it on her show.

Oh my, too much Hannah Montana  I think you could be right, Melissa and Williams perhaps. One thing I wanted to bring up that Tracygirl commented on, "I am still not clear on one thing, how did Sandra get from the MHP to outside the park? Maybe the mom as she was leaving asked Sandra if she wanted to "help" her?" I think that was a great thought, Melissa asking Sandra if she wanted to help at the school.

[no rose colored glasses]

I'm sorry I meant to say church not school. Sandra knew her, she played with her daughter, so I'm sure she trusted Melissa.

[Tamikosmom]

Teen says man acting 'real strange' at pond where girl's body found

Associated Press - April 10, 2009 9:13 PM ET

TRACY, Calif. (AP) - A 19-year-old police cadet says he saw someone "acting real strange" at the irrigation pond where an 8-year-old California girl's body was found in a suitcase.

Stephen Memory lives near the pond. He says he told the FBI that he saw a beige Chevrolet Silverado truck parked on the shoulder of the road facing in the wrong direction three days before the discovery of Sandra Cantu's body.

Memory says the driver appeared to be looking down at the ditch beside the road. He says only a handful of cars travel the remote, dead end road on a typical day.

Memory describes the driver as a white man in his late 40s or early 50s wearing a white baseball cap and gray T-shirt. He says he slowly drove by to get a good look at the man.

No suspects have been named in the case, but police say the department has received nearly 1,500 tips in the search for the girl's killer.

http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10166592

[Wyks]

Oooooooo.. typo!! 

  

No prob.  Fixed.

Awwwww thanks Muffy, you're a gem!   

[klaasend]

http://www.kcra.com/news/19149311/detail.html



FBI Continues Searching Church In Cantu Case
Pastor's Granddaughter Confirms Note Found Mentions Cantu

POSTED: 11:14 am PDT April 10, 2009
UPDATED: 6:19 pm PDT April 10, 2009


TRACY, Calif. -- The FBI continued on Friday its search of Clover Road Baptist Church in connection with the Sandra Cantu homicide case.


Melissa Huckaby, the granddaughter of Clover Road Baptist Church's pastor, the Rev. Lane Lawless, said on Friday that the suitcase in which Cantu was found matched one that was stolen from her. Huckaby also said that she found a note the day after Cantu's disappearance.

According to Huckaby, the note said, "Cantu, Suitcase, Water. The word 'suitcase' was misspelled, and there were two street names including the word 'Whitehall.'"

Cantu disappeared March 27 from her family's home in Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park.


On Monday morning, farm workers found a black, sealed suitcase while they were draining a pond near Bacchetti Road, about two miles from Orchard Estates. The area is full of agricultural fields, plowed land waiting to be planted and some irrigation ditches. It's adjacent to a dairy farm.

The luggage was taken into the county morgue, where the 8-year-old's body was identified.

"I wish they could have found her a lot sooner, if they would have followed up on this a lot sooner," Huckaby said.

A public memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Merrill F. West High School gym, Sgt. Tony Sheneman said during a media update on Thursday afternoon. The gym seats about 2,500 people, he said.

Anyone wishing to reach Cantu's family may route condolences to the Tracy Police Department, which has assigned a liaison to work with relatives. Those wishing to make donations of money in the girl's memory are being asked to contact the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation.

[no rose colored glasses]

Good Gravy, what an afternoon.

Everything we need to know about what happened and by whom is in Melissa's statement, of that I am 100%. Noticably, she left out whether Williams was at the church when she was there, AND the "rummage sale"...

I want to stop and commend the Investigators in this case.. Can you imagine in an emotionally charged case like this what it is like to know what happened and still be charged with abiding protocol and building the case from an evidentiary perspective? I work with these guys, I COULD NEVER be one of them, I would be in jail. Yeesh.

I will say if Melissa is involved I'm somewhat shocked, I was not expecting a woman, but I still think that some of those unsavory men in that mobile park, may not be involved with Sandra's death, but I'm betting they found child porn with some of these characters.

[mymonkey]

I might need to hide after making this statement but, I have a gut feeling that is very strong, a female is the

person responsible for Sandra's murder.

You may be right, is Melissa married, and what I'm finding odd is she spent several days in ICU for internal bleeding, but is not commenting any further on this. Could someone have been kicking or punching Melissa, hence the internal bleeding?

I don't know Rose I have been busy today and not keeping up, its just a strong feeling I have. Grands have been on spring break so I had mimi duty last week which means no news for me unless Hannah Montana had it on her show.

Oh my, too much Hannah Montana  I think you could be right, Melissa and Williams perhaps. One thing I wanted to bring up that Tracygirl commented on, "I am still not clear on one thing, how did Sandra get from the MHP to outside the park? Maybe the mom as she was leaving asked Sandra if she wanted to "help" her?" I think that was a great thought, Melissa asking Sandra if she wanted to help at the school.

That could be very well what happened, it was said Sandra was friendly and outgoing...so she would be eager to help...so sad,and she just had a birthday,so heartbreaking.

[Tamikosmom]

Tracy Pastor Speaks Out About Cantu Girl
April 10, 2009 05:53 PM PDT
April 10, 2009 06:21 PM PDT

SALINAS, Calif.- Pastor Lane Lawless and his wife Connie, two of the hundreds of people questioned by Tracy police in the case of the missing 8-year-old girl found dead Monday, attended church services in Salinas Friday.
Lawless, whose brother-in-law is the pastor of the Alisal Baptist Church in Salinas, sat among friends and family in a pew inside the church. In one of his first TV interviews, Lawless said it's been a rough few weeks.

"There's no need to fall apart just keep going," said Lawless.

Lawless and his wife said they were questioned hours after 8-year-old Sandra Cantu went missing from the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park on March 27.

"Nerve-racking...(it's) not anything we've ever gone through before," said Lawless.

His wife, Connie, said the questioning lasted through the weekend.

"That evening the FBI came back and questioned us until 11:00 that night," said Connie.

Tracy police and FBI agents also converged on the Clover Road Baptist Church, where Lawless preached.

"I can assume why they are investigating us," said Connie. "It's our proximity and it's where she was last seen and because of that the church."

Lawless' niece Amy McCLure said it was surreal to see her aunt and uncle on TV portrayed in that light.

"For this to be a possibility, it's unfathomable in our minds and people who know them," said McClure. "We can see how it looks, but there's no doubt with me they're innocent."

Lawless and his wife said they had known and cared for Sandra for about six years.

"I don't think she ever came by our house without stopping," said Lawless.

Connie said her death is devastating.

"You can't even imagine even the worst thing in world that could happen to you and then to find that little thing's body, she'll never get over this, but I pray to God give her peace and comfort," said Connie, referring to Sandra's mother who Connie said broke down in screams after learning of her daughter's death.

http://www.kcba.com/Global/story.asp?S=10166530

[no rose colored glasses]

Teen says man acting 'real strange' at pond where girl's body found

Associated Press - April 10, 2009 9:13 PM ET

TRACY, Calif. (AP) - A 19-year-old police cadet says he saw someone "acting real strange" at the irrigation pond where an 8-year-old California girl's body was found in a suitcase.

Stephen Memory lives near the pond. He says he told the FBI that he saw a beige Chevrolet Silverado truck parked on the shoulder of the road facing in the wrong direction three days before the discovery of Sandra Cantu's body.

Memory says the driver appeared to be looking down at the ditch beside the road. He says only a handful of cars travel the remote, dead end road on a typical day.

Memory describes the driver as a white man in his late 40s or early 50s wearing a white baseball cap and gray T-shirt. He says he slowly drove by to get a good look at the man.

No suspects have been named in the case, but police say the department has received nearly 1,500 tips in the search for the girl's killer.

http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10166592

I wonder if this was Williams, I did see a pic of his home somewhere, and he lives in a very nice home. I don't know if it has been mentioned what kind of car or truck he drives.

[cartfly]

don't think I am being snobbish, but do you really think that she would have a $200 suitcase that she would just leave at the end of a driveway? that is a lot of money to pay for a suitcase imo...my husband buys  expensive suitcases but he travels a lot and needs something that will sustain loading and unloading from an airplane....does she travel a lot?
I have yet to ever put cleaning supplies in a suitcase....call me crazy...

I think it's BS

I'll call it what it is  ::MonkeyCool::TOO!!!! If it looks like BS and smells like BS, IT'S PROBABLY BS!!!