SANDRA CANTU - 8 yo (3/2009) - Tracy CA

TRACY, CA - Authorities are investigating the discovery of a container in an irrigation pond in Tracy.

Tracy police say the sealed container was found by workers cleaning a pond off Tracy Boulevard. Aerials of the item show what appears to be a dark-colored suitcase. The pond is surrounded by cropland.

Tracy police and the California Highway Patrol are on the scene. No other information about the size, color or condition of the container has been provided.

The location is a few miles from the Orchard Estates mobile home park where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared March 27. Despite hundreds of tips and ground, aerial and water searches by trained searchers and volunteers, the girl hasn't been found.

News10 has a crew headed to the pond and will have more information as it is made available.

carlos1111 wrote:TRACY, CA - Authorities are investigating the discovery of a container in an irrigation pond in Tracy.

Tracy police say the sealed container was found by workers cleaning a pond off Tracy Boulevard. Aerials of the item show what appears to be a dark-colored suitcase. The pond is surrounded by cropland.

Tracy police and the California Highway Patrol are on the scene. No other information about the size, color or condition of the container has been provided.

The location is a few miles from the Orchard Estates mobile home park where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared March 27. Despite hundreds of tips and ground, aerial and water searches by trained searchers and volunteers, the girl hasn't been found.

News10 has a crew headed to the pond and will have more information as it is made available.

---MORE~
A farming operation found the container Monday morning while draining
an irrigation pond by Bacchetti Road. The road has been closed to
traffic.Farmworkers found a black, sealed box while they were
draining the pond, KNTV reporter Jodi Hernandez said. The box wasn't
there when the pond was flooded, officials said, but it's unknown when
the water was added.Officials said an FBI evidence recovery team
would open the container. They will also search for any footprints or
tire tracks near the scene.Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony
Sheneman said he doesn't know how big the container is, but he noted
it's unusual for a container to show up in an irrigation ditch.The pond is about three or four miles from the mobile home park.Family
members said they are anxious for officials to open up the sealed
container and are "disturbed" by the discovery. They told KCRA 3 that
they are not giving up hope in finding the little girl alive. The
family does not plan to go to the investigation site.Police will hold a 3:30 p.m. media update about the case. Cantu's family is expected to release a statement at that time.

A body that was identified as Sandra Cantu was found inside a piece of luggage Monday in a San Joaquin County irrigation pond, Tracy police said.
Two arrests have been made in connection to the disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, Tracy police said Monday.
Sandra was last seen March 27 inside Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, just off West Clover Road.
Farmworkers found a black, sealed case Monday while they were draining a pond near Bacchetti Road, about two miles from Orchard Estates.
Police said it was a black piece of luggage of significant size with both hard and soft sides.

Officials in white suits removed the luggage from the pond shortly after 5 p.m. It was loaded into a van and driven to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in French Camp

http://www.kcra.com/news/19112110/detail.html

I am so sorry Sandra....go play with Caylee and be happy....

My heart just can not take much more of this... :.0

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/06/BAR116U792.DTL

SANDRA CANTU REST IN PEACE
Another Angel in Heaven with God. Blessings of peace to her family.

Teresa(aka Mom-in-Indiana wrote:A body that was identified as Sandra Cantu was found inside a piece of luggage Monday in a San Joaquin County irrigation pond, Tracy police said.
Two arrests have been made in connection to the disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, Tracy police said Monday.
Sandra was last seen March 27 inside Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, just off West Clover Road.
Farmworkers found a black, sealed case Monday while they were draining a pond near Bacchetti Road, about two miles from Orchard Estates.
Police said it was a black piece of luggage of significant size with both hard and soft sides.

Officials in white suits removed the luggage from the pond shortly after 5 p.m. It was loaded into a van and driven to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in French Camp

http://www.kcra.com/news/19112110/detail.html

I am so sorry Sandra....go play with Caylee and be happy....

My heart just can not take much more of this... :.0

They have removed the sentence "Two arrests have been made..." from the news story. I wonder why?

R.I.P princess::Sandra

Your in a better place not doubt.. Prayers for family of this another little Angel !!!

RIP Sweetheart--your safe now.

I'm not surprised..........but I feel so devastated. I feel sick and angry. I'm glad her terror is over, as I try to find something positive from this news.

So sad,that poor child. I feel terrible.

And the angels cried.......












Rest peacefully now my sweet child... :(

(CNN) -- An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday on 8-year-old
Sandra Cantu, whose body was found in a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond
near her California home.

Sandra Cantu, 8, disappeared on March 27. Her body was found at a dairy-farm pond near her Calilfornia home.
Police found the girl's body Monday, after she went missing March 27 in
Tracy, California. Police did not identify a suspect in her
disappearance
and did not know the cause of death. News of the girl's death
devastated her family, Tracy police spokesman Tony Sheneman said. "They
have just experienced the unimaginable," Sheneman said.The day Sandra
was last seen, she came home from school, kissed her
mother and left to play with a friend who lives a couple of homes away.
A short time later, she left that home to go to another friend's home,
according
to a spokeswoman for her family. The child was last seen by her family
wearing a pink Hello Kitty T-shirt and black leggings. Authorities
identified her body by the clothes she was wearing, Sheneman said. Watch how the suitcase was found »
Earlier in the investigation, police released surveillance video that
showed the child in the mobile home park where she lives -- skipping
and happily swinging her arms on the day she disappeared. They had
hoped to get tips with the eight-second video.
Don't Miss

• 
  KCRA: Local coverage from CNN affiliate
  
• 
  Tape shows Cantu in alley
  

Monday, they got a tip about the dairy farm.Workers on the farm were getting water from a retention pond when the
black
suitcase came to the surface of the water, police said. "It is very
difficult for everybody involved. We were optimistic that we would find
Sandra alive," Sheneman said.
Hundreds attended a vigil for Sandra on Monday at a community park near her family's home in Tracy, CNN
television
affiliate KCRA reported. The crowd formed prayer circles, sang and
created memorials honoring Sandra, the affiliate reported.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/07/california.missing.girl.dead/

And the angels cried.......












Rest peacefully now my sweet child... :(

Another heart breaking event! So sad that she was treated like trash. thrown into a pond in a suitcase like she was nothing. I hope they fry the guy (s) that are responsible for this.

May God hold you in his arms and give you the peace you deserve. Play with Caylee and keep her company!! :.0 :.0 :.0 :.0

By Mike Martinez
San Joaquin Herald
Posted: 04/07/2009 11:05:24 AM PDT
TRACY — Police confirmed this morning that they will be searching a church in Tracy today for evidence in the slaying of Sandra Cantu.

Police late last night wrapped yellow crime scene tape around Clover Baptist Church, an older single story building not far from Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was last seen alive. Investigators also searched a residence in the park last night.

Neighbors referred to the church on West Clover Road as being rarely used and said they only saw cars there about twice a week.

An autopsy is currently being conducted to determine how Sandra died.

Tracy Sgt. Tony Sheneman said this morning that a man they previously questioned during the initial investigation is a suspect but said no one has been detained or arrested.

"We still are looking for the perpetrator," Sheneman said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_12090693

May you rest in peace sweet child, and may the person responsible get justice. God be with your family and give them the peace. I hope they can understand that now you are playing with angels.

My 2 cents worth on Sandra. I read on WS yesterday where the pastor had a hispanic man living at his home. The pastor did not know where this pond was and had lived there 20 years. In fact someone commented that not many really knew it was there. Also, the workers at the pond were migrant workers etc... I am thinking that if all this is true then possibly either the man living at the pastors or one of his migrant worker friends counld be responsible. JMO

carlos1111 wrote:My 2 cents worth on Sandra. I read on WS yesterday where the pastor had a hispanic man living at his home. The pastor did not know where this pond was and had lived there 20 years. In fact someone commented that not many really knew it was there. Also, the workers at the pond were migrant workers etc... I am thinking that if all this is true then possibly either the man living at the pastors or one of his migrant worker friends counld be responsible. JMO

Sounds right to me. I don't think, or at least I hope, the pastor is not involved. That would really be just too much!

The yellow crime scene tape that surrounded a church the FBI searched until late Tuesday night in connection with a Tracy girl who was killed has been taken down, but police refused to say whether they found anything useful as they search for the scene of the murder.

Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman did not say much about the case during today’s press conference, because he said he didn’t want to compromise the “integrity of the investigation” into the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

He did say “in excess” of 15 search warrants have been served since the little girl’s March 27 disappearance and expects many more to be issued. Police asked the courts to seal every one.

No suspects have been named, and detectives continue to question hundreds of people.

“We feel a great deal of pressure,” he told reporters this morning. “But we don’t want to rush to judgment … we don’t want to try anyone in the press.”

Results of an autopsy won’t be released for some time now, Sheneman said. Some reports have said that it might take up to six weeks. Until police hear back from the coroner, Sheneman said he can’t say whether Sandra was sexually assaulted before her slaying.

He downplayed speculations that the suitcase that held Sandra’s body belonged to the family of Clifford Lane Lawless, 77, whose church police searched on Tuesday.

“Anything I say on that would be speculation at this point,” he said.

Several rumors associated with the piece of black luggage have spread among residents of Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where little Sandra lived. Some residents have said that the pastor’s wife, Connie Lawless, or her daughter, Joni, left the rolling suitcase on their home’s driveway for a few minutes when someone took it.

No suitcase was reported missing to police, Sheneman said.

The pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church, the one combed by detectives and FBI agents until about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, stopped by the building this morning but refused to talk to reporters.

His is only the fourth name to have been publicized in the course of an investigation that has seen hundreds of interviews and has 25 local cops on the case in addition to detectives from the FBI and Stockton police.

The emotional toll has been devastating to Tracy police, many of whom have children of their own, Sheneman said. But on a professional level, he said, the tragedy only motivates them to find a suspect or suspects. He declined to say whether police believe there were one or more killers.

“I advise every parent to keep close watch on their children,” said Sheneman, who has school-age children of his own and has lived in Tracy for 12 years.

Sandra was found Monday by farmworkers when they drained an irrigation pond and spotted the suitcase. She had been missing for 10 days.

The family has borne the news in private, away from the reporters who have camped outside their neighborhood since the hunt began. A police liaison visits with Sandra’s family every day, Sheneman said.

“The family is devastated,” he said. “They want us to concentrate on finding the people who did this.”

Police said they’re confident they’re heading in the right direction.

• Contact Tracy Press reporter Jennifer Wadsworth at 830-4225 or jwadsworth@tracypress.com.

Sandra Cantu Case: Celebrating Sandra

Posted by Blink | Amber Alert, Kidnapping, Missing Child, Missing Persons, Murdered, Sandra Cantu | Wednesday 8 April 2009 7:16 am

Tracy, CA- I was sent this YouTube memorial tribute to Sandra from a reader. The creator claims to be a family member. I can’t verify that, but it is beautiful and I wanted to share it with you today. I am hearing an arrest in this case is imminent with lots of sordid details to follow, so just for this morning, I wanted to focus just on 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.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2009/04/08/sandra-cantu-case-celebrating-sandra/

The more I watch the video of Sandra the more I think it has been spliced right at the point where she turns away. I think she actually stopped and either talked to someone not in the scope of the camera or was frightened by someone off to the side. It seems very jerky at that point which makes me think there was a possible few second or longer pause LE does not want us to see. There are several possibilites...she stopped and talked to someone she knew or perhaps there was someone she didn't know and she knew to go on her way...

BUT...if this were the case...it seems someone else would eventually be on that video .....

ONLY ON FOX40: Man Says He Knows Who Killed Sandra Cantu


cindmo Today at 3:07 pm"TRACY - Johnny Williams is sure he know who killed Sandra Cantu.Williams
drove from Oakland Sunday afternoon to hand-deliver his lead to Tracy
police during an afternoon press conference. Afterward, he told media
that he believes he saw Sandra with a man on a boat the week prior.Now,
speaking exclusively to FOX40 News, Williams says he spotted the same
man talking with media the day after Sandra Cantu's body was found.FOX40
News won't show the man Williams accuses of murdering Sandra Cantu;
however, Williams describes the man as being "heavyset with a thick
moustache."Sandra Cantu's body was recovered from a sealed piece
of black luggage found floating in an irrigation canal by farm workers
on Monday afternoon.On Tuesday, the pastor of a Baptist church
near Sandra Cantu's home had been questioned by police in connection
with Sandra's murder. Pastor Lane Lawless denies having any connection
to
Sandra's murder.Prior to her body's recovery, Sandra Cantu's father
agreed to and passed a polygraph test given by authorities.Authorities
continue to insist that, while nobody has been ruled out as a person of
interest, that they do not have one specific suspect or a group of
suspects in mind that they are focusing on."
http://www.fox40.com/pages/landing_sandra_cantu/?ONLY-ON-FOX40-Man-Says-He-Knows-Who-Kill=1&blockID=262627&feedID=2674

The only guy I saw on the news was this guy

Article to go with pic:

Tracy, CA- Blink
on Crime has confirmed there is a solid link to the Clover Baptist
Church and the black suitcase Sandra Cantu was found in Monday
afternoon. According to a member of the Clover Baptist Church, Fred
Williams, a female congregation member reported the bag stolen the day Sandra was last seen:

“There’s
not one member there that would have anything to do with anything like
that kind of situation,” Williams said. “More people should come to
church and hang out with him because they would find out what a fun
loving kind of guy that he is,” Williams said.

“That
suitcase was to go to the church for a rummage sale with some stuff in
it and the person put it somewhere, either in the back of a car
somewhere. But anyway, when she came back out the suitcase was gone,”
Williams said.

Williams said that the mysterious rolling black suitcase Cantu was found in, was reported stolen to Tracy Police Department. Not True.

There is only one report filed in the
early morning hours of March 28th, less than 12 hours after police
launched the search for Sandra Cantu, reporting a theft from a
vehicle. It is a purse theft from a car without a break-in.

I’ll save you the trouble- Who reports a
stolen piece of luggage slated for an impromptu rummage sale which
just happens to end up entombing an 8 year old child in the bottom of
an irrigation pond?

According to Mr. Williams, there is “stuff
in it”, but Sgt. Tony Sheneman has stated several times that there was
nothing found on or in the bag to identify Pastor Lawless or the Clover
Baptist Church. If that is accurate, one can only assume that the tie-in to the church is from the woman that allegedly reported the suitcase stolen.

If there is no report, Mr. Williams would seem to know something none of us would have , until he told us.

The purse theft occurred at a location directly across the street from Mr. Williams residence.
Fred L Williams, self proclaimed member of
the Clover Baptist Church and his wife, Anita M, have an extensive
criminal history which includes suspended drivers licenses, drug
posession, and worse. I am not listing them specifically as it has
not been determined to be relevant to Sandra’s disappearance.
They appear to have previous addresses in Oakland and Oakdale as well.

It is however, safe to say, that Williams
statements directly contradict those of Lt. Sheneman regarding the
reporting from anyone regarding stolen luggage. It is not known at this
writing if Mr. Williams has been interviewed by Investigators.

Let’s say for the purpose of this
discussion, we allow the possibility that the ”theft from
vehicle” report, although it does not specifically identify luggage, is
in some way an attempted cover up.... Upon further research, BlinkonCrime has uncovered a theft report incident PRIOR to
Sandra’s disappearance, but occuring the morning of the day she went
missing. It is within a block of the ”theft from vehicle” report I
reference above; again very close to Mr. Williams residence.
I was able to confirm through the Tracy Police Department this
afternoon that neither report, nor any other, specify luggage was
stolen from a vehicle or anywhere else. There is little doubt however,
that the answer to the question “Where did the luggage come from?” is a
critical
key to bringing Sandra Cantu’s killer or killers to
justice.http://blinkoncrime.com/2009/04/08/sandra-cantu-investigation-suitcase-reported-stolen-by-church-member/
Don't know if you all talked about this already, kind of weird, and they have
the same last name...albeit a common one. Not trying to slander Fred,
just my opinion, observation, question etc...