Melissa Huckaby

 

The murder of a child is always especially senseless and often preventable. But, there is generally a “reason,” they are not ever good reasons, but they are reasons. Child murders are generally committed by two groups of people, pedophiles and parents, or those in a parental role. You often hear stories of a child dying at the hands of their mother's boyfriend; you hear stories of a child being starved or abused by their parents (or foster parents at times); you hear of pedophiles, generally already with a record, stalking and murdering children from time to time. Even still the latter is less common than murders by family members. This case did not fall into any of those categories. In the end even the perpetrator claimed they had no idea why they did what they did and gave no real answers. Melissa Huckaby would not have even been on the radar if she had not said and done some strange things. In fact the FBI had profiled the killer as being a white male between the ages of twenty-five and forty with a criminal history of sexual assault, possibly involving children.

On March 27, 2009 eight year old Sandra Cantu had played at a friends house after school in Tracy California. She returned home around four that afternoon but so left again to go play with another friend. When she did not make it home for dinner her mother knew something was not right. She began a quick search with friends and neighbors and then reported her daughter missing at 7:53 that night. Later, after she was reported missing, neighbor, Melissa Huckaby sent Sandra's mother, Maria a text message that said “Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4pm. I don't know if that makes a difference or not.” Investigators would talk to Melissa and she would report that she had a suitcase stolen from the porch of her home.

The following day while there were search parties, along with police and FBI agents in the area Melissa approached them to report that she had found a note “on the ground.” The note said, “Cantu locked in stolin suitcase. Thrown in water onn Bacchetti Road and Whitenail Road. Witness.” Investigators would say that Melissa was “very agitated and crying” almost to the point of hyperventilating but it seems that they knew a bit about Melissa. She had a history of mental issues that included borderline personality disorder, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. Investigators felt that her interjecting into the case and her near hysterics was because she was just trying to garner attention to herself. And, while she may have had these things it seems she did not have a criminal history, nor did she seem to be a threat to anyone. In fact there was a big deal made that she was a Sunday School teacher at her local church.

After ten days of searching for Sandra her body was later found inside a suitcase in a local irrigation pond on April 10, 2009. It was actually by chance that her body was found because of a routine draining of the pond. An autopsy revealed that Sandra had been beaten, sexually assaulted with some type of foreign object, smothered and strangled. It was also revealed that she had ingested Alprozolam, also known as Xanax. It was believed that she had been strangled with a noose made of torn cloth. But, more importantly, at least when it came to evidence or clues was the fact that the suitcase in which her body had been found was the suitcase that Melissa Huckaby had reported stolen.

At this point Melissa was the prime suspect. A couple notified law enforcement that they had seen Melissa and her SUV at the irrigation pond that was connected to their property on the day Sandra disappeared between 5:30 and 6 that evening. Melissa's church was also searched as investigators believed that she had possibly gone there both before and after kidnapping Sandra. They found a rolling pin at the church that had what was described as a “bloody smudge” on it. The rolling pin was sent for testing and the DNA revealed that it had been used on Sandra. Investigators would believe this was used to sexually assault her. Melissa was arrested on April 10th and charged with kidnapping, rape and murder.

Melissa apparently eventually confessed to murdering Sandra, although she denied sexually assaulting her. Prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty. While Melissa would claim she did not know why she had done it, law enforcement would say once again that they believed she had committed the crime for attention.

During the investigation it appears that authorities discovered that Melissa had previously also drugged a seven year old girl and a thirty-seven year old man. Melissa accepted a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty but the other drug charges, as well as the sexual assault charge against Sandra were also dropped. She received a sentence of life without parole. The California Department of Corrections shows that she entered their system on June 15, 2010.

The family of Sandra Cantu saw justice for her but never received an answer as to why....