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Thursday, Apr. 09, 2009

Devastating end to search for Tracy girl

For 10 days, people prayed for 8-year-old Sandra Cantu to be found. When it finally happened Monday, no one wanted it to be true.

Farmworkers discovered the Tracy girl's remains in a suitcase in a collection pond just two miles from the mobile home park where she was last seen skipping through the neighborhood March 27.

She was found dressed in the same clothes she wore that day – black leggings and a pink Hello Kitty shirt.

The gruesome discovery brought a heartbreaking end to a communitywide effort to locate the little girl, while igniting a new mission for authorities: finding her killer.

"We will be determining the person or persons responsible for this reprehensible act, and we will bring them to justice," pledged Tracy Police Chief Janet M. Thiessen.

During a somber news conference Monday night, police declined to discuss any leads in the case. They also would not say whether any new evidence points to any of three men who have been the subject of recent search warrants.

Police could not say how long Sandra's body had been in the collection pond, or how she was killed. Those answers will come after an autopsy, which is scheduled to be performed today.

The suitcase surfaced Monday morning as farmworkers drained a collection pond just off a county road in an agricultural area north of Tracy. They pulled the suitcase to the edge of the pond and called authorities, said Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

Workers told authorities the pond had been filled for at least two weeks – longer than Sandra had been missing – and that the container wasn't there when it was empty.

Police had already swept the area around the pond twice in their quest to find Sandra: the first weekend when authorities and volunteers fanned out across the region, and again this past weekend, Sheneman said.

Even before opening the container early Monday evening and discovering Sandra's remains, authorities treated the area like a crime scene. They combed for clues – tire marks, footprints, "anything that's laying in the area that they could categorize as evidence," Sheneman said.

Investigators used a laser device to map out the scene, and had the Federal Aviation Administration declare a no-fly zone overhead.

More than five hours passed after the container was found and before police held an initial news conference to stress there was no indication whether the container held anything relevant to the case. But they said during that conference that they had to exercise "caution and due diligence" in case it did.

"If there's nothing inside, we've lost nothing," Sheneman told throngs of reporters. "You can't go back and re- create a scene."

Any hint of hope in Sheneman's voice had vanished hours later, when he and other police officials gathered to deliver the news.

"It's very difficult for everyone involved," the sergeant said. "Everybody was optimistic and hopeful we would be finding Sandra alive and well. So it's not easy for any of us."

Police have served search warrants targeting the homes and cars of three people, one of whom admitted kissing the girl in the pool of the Orchard Estates mobile home park, where they both live, when she was six. But police have not named any suspects.

They have questioned Sandra's estranged father, Daniel Cantu of Mexico, on several occasions but also have not specified his role in their investigation. Repeatedly, police have said they have not ruled out anybody.

And until Monday night, they declined to characterize the circumstances surrounding Sandra's disappearance as anything criminal.

Sandra was last seen the afternoon of March 27. Family members reported her missing that night, after she failed to return to the double-wide mobile home she shared with her mother and grandparents.

Their mobile home park was the scene of candlelight vigils night after night last week. Early Monday evening, it was the site of a makeshift shrine where Tracy residents delivered children's toys and stood in silent reflection.

Several saints' candles burned next to stuffed animals and Disney-character balloons. Word of the girl's discovery had not yet spread there, and some tied notes to a tree imploring Sandra's kidnapper to let her go.

Hours later, about 50 residents gathered for a makeshift memorial service.

Daniela Rodriguez, 18, said she went to church with the little girl and was shocked by her death.

"She was only eight," Rodriguez said. "I walked to school when I was eight."

Outside Tracy City Hall, where police announced their grim findings, the grief was palpable.

Stockton resident Madeline Freitas, who grew up around the corner from Sandra's home, sobbed for the little girl.

"You don't want it to end like that," she said.

Sheneman, the police sergeant, described Sandra's death as an "unimaginable loss" for any parent, and a trying ordeal for the community at large.

Asked what advice he had for parents, he paused.

"Watch your children," he said, "and give them a hug tonight."