Melissa Huckaby Arrested in Sandra Cantu Murder

The granddaughter of the pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, California has been charged in the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

Melissa Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher at the church, was arrested Friday on suspicion of the kidnapping and slaying of Cantu. The 28-year-old was booked Sunday morning around 3:25 a.m. at San Joaquin County jail, where she is currently being held without bail.

“She revealed enough information that we had probable cause to arrest her for both kidnapping and murder. She was very relaxed for a bit, then she became very emotional, and then she became relaxed again, and then became resigned to what was happening,” says Tracy police Sgt. Ton Sheneman.

The motive for the killing is still unclear.

Cantu disappeared from her neighborhood March 27 after kissing her mother goodbye and going to play with a friend who lived several houses down. Her body was discovered last week stuffed in a suitcase, which surfaced in an irrigation pond at a dairy farm about 2 miles from her home.

Police executed a search warrant at Clover Road Baptist Church but would not reveal any suspects in the case. The pastor of the church, Lane Lawless, who his Huckaby’s grandfather, was questioned in the case and authorities seized a phone and computer belonging to him and his wife Connie.

Connie Lawless told police Sandra had played with her great-granddaughter, Huckaby’s daughter, on the day she went missing. Huckaby claimed Sandra came to her house to play with her daughter but she sent her away because her daughter needed to clean up her toys. Huckaby said Sandra went to another friend’s home to play.

The same day Sandra disappeared; Huckaby claimed her Eddie Bauer suitcase disappeared from her driveway. She alleges she later found note on her driveway with the words “suitcase,” “water” and the name of a street near the irrigation pond.

Sandra’s cause of death is undetermined pending autopsy results. Huckaby’s arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

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