Suitcase in the Pond: The Sandra Cantu Case

The Last Normal Afternoon of Sandra Cantu

March 27th, 2009. A Friday. One of those warm, pre-summer afternoons where the school bell rings and every kid in town turns into a heat-seeking missile for snacks, bikes, and their best friend’s front door. Eight-year-old Sandra Renee Cantu was no different—Friday meant freedom, and she was ready to make the most of it.

She lived in Tracy, California, at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park. That name might sound fancy, but it was a tight-knit, modest neighborhood where kids played outside without a second thought and most folks knew your grandma, your cousins, and your business. Sandra’s house was full—her mom, her three older siblings—and her grandparents lived just down the lane. It was the kind of place where you didn’t have to knock, you just showed up with a juice box and a jump rope.

Tracy wasn’t a big city, not back then. Population around 78,000. And Orchard Estates? Smaller still. Sandra went to the local elementary school. Sunday school at a nearby church. She had plenty of friends, plenty of places to be, and plenty of adults keeping casual tabs on where everyone’s kids were. This was before “Find My iPhone” raised your kid for you.

That afternoon, Sandra stopped by one friend’s house, hung out until around 4, then dropped by her own home just long enough to say she was off to play with someone else. She promised she’d be back in time for dinner.

But dinner came. And dinner went. And Sandra didn’t come home.

Now, some kids push the limits. Stay out past curfew. Get lost in the chaos of tag or trading Silly Bandz. But that wasn’t Sandra. She was steady. She didn’t test boundaries—she followed the rules. So when she didn’t come home, her mom didn’t wait around or assume she’d wandered off. She called the police.

At exactly 7:53 p.m., the official search for Sandra Cantu began.

The Last Known Sight of Sandra

Not long after Sandra left her house, a nearby surveillance camera caught what would be the final known footage of her. She’s skipping—literally skipping—like an eight-year-old with zero worries and a whole weekend ahead of her. She crosses the street, then pauses, and turns like something—or someone—caught her attention. That tiny moment, captured on grainy footage, was the last time anyone saw her alive.

And something about it just felt wrong. Not dramatic or movie-scene wrong. Just…off. Sandra vanished on a regular Friday afternoon, in broad daylight, surrounded by homes and people and weekend plans. This wasn’t a case of a kid sneaking off or running away. She was eight. She was happy. She was wearing Hello Kitty.

And when a kid like that disappears in a place like Orchard Estates, the panic spreads fast. Because if it could happen to her, it could happen to anyone’s kid.

The police handed over the footage to the press, and it was everywhere by the weekend. Over and over again, people watched Sandra turn and walk out of frame. While that played on a loop, the FBI swarmed the neighborhood. They brought out everything—dogs, horses, helicopters, ATVs. If it had wheels or a heartbeat, it was looking for Sandra.

But every lead fizzled out. Every tip led nowhere. Sandra was just…gone.

The Suitcase in the Pond

Ten days after Sandra disappeared, a group of local farmers drained an irrigation pond near the edge of town. What they found caught everyone off guard—a suitcase, heavy and waterlogged. When investigators opened it, they discovered Sandra’s body inside.

The coroner’s report later confirmed that she had likely died not long after she went missing. Evidence pointed to trauma, the presence of drugs, and signs that she had been restrained. Her body had then been concealed in the suitcase and dumped into the pond.

The FBI profilers working the case came up with a fairly specific theory. They believed the suspect was likely a white man between the ages of 25 and 40, with a history of predatory behavior—possibly someone already on the radar for possession of illicit material involving minors. Sadly, it was the kind of profile they’d seen before in cases like this.

One local man quickly drew attention. A few years earlier, he had reportedly kissed Sandra at a local swimming pool. She was just six at the time. It was deeply inappropriate—and enough to warrant a second look now that she’d been found dead.

He matched the initial profile, and investigators brought him in. But after a full review of his alibi and whereabouts, he was cleared. Whatever his past behavior, this wasn’t him.

That left the case wide open again—at least officially. But one person, someone already well-known in the community, had been involved in the investigation in a way that started to raise some eyebrows.

Her name was Melissa Huckaby. Twenty-eight years old, she lived in the same mobile home park as Sandra, and she had been part of the search from the very start. But it wasn’t just that she was involved—it was how she involved herself that caught attention.

Just hours after Sandra disappeared, Melissa had texted Sandra’s mother. The message read, “Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4 p.m. I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.”

The item she claimed was stolen? A suitcase.

To police at the time, it sounded odd—but not criminal. Melissa was known to have mental health challenges. She’d been diagnosed with multiple disorders, and while that alone means nothing, her behavior was increasingly erratic. She also had a personal connection to Sandra: their daughters were friends, and Melissa had once been Sandra’s Sunday school teacher.

At first, her comments were seen as a misguided attempt to help. But once that suitcase turned up in the pond, everything about her involvement suddenly looked very different.

The Suspicions Around Melissa Huckaby

In the early days of the investigation, most people—especially law enforcement—shrugged Melissa Huckaby off. She had a documented history of serious mental illness, including diagnoses of borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. She wasn’t just another neighbor. Her daughter was one of Sandra’s friends. And Melissa herself had taught Sandra in Sunday School.

So when she started offering up details and theories, texting Sandra’s mom about a stolen suitcase, and repeatedly inserting herself into the search effort, it felt—at first—like someone trying way too hard to be helpful. Or maybe just someone desperate for attention in a tragic situation.

That changed when Sandra was found.

Because Melissa’s missing suitcase? The one she couldn’t stop talking about? It was the exact one Sandra had been hidden in.

Now there were three things stacking up:

1. Melissa wouldn’t leave the case alone.
   
   
2. She had a close relationship with Sandra.
   
   
3. Sandra’s body had been found in something Melissa claimed was stolen.
   
   

That many coincidences starts to feel like a pattern.

The Note at the Vigil

Then came the vigil. While the community was grieving and lighting candles for Sandra, Melissa approached the police with another revelation: she’d found a note.

It read, with several misspellings, “Cantu locked in stolin suitcase. Thrown in water onn Bacchetti Road and Whitehall Road. Witness.”

Melissa was reportedly crying and hyperventilating as she handed it over, but investigators were no longer seeing her as an overly emotional bystander. They were asking a new question: Was Melissa a victim of this tragedy, or was she orchestrating it?

The mention of a witness got their attention—and led them to one.

A Witness Comes Forward

A retired Marine and his wife came forward with something investigators couldn’t ignore. On the same day Sandra disappeared, the couple had been driving past that same irrigation pond and saw a woman walking away from the water. When they briefly stopped, the woman told them she had just needed to relieve herself.

Later, after seeing her on TV, they realized that woman was Melissa Huckaby.

They’d seen her between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. that day. The timeline matters. Sandra was last seen on security footage at 3:54 p.m., heading toward Melissa’s trailer. Minutes later, Melissa’s SUV left the park in the opposite direction, and she called the property manager to report that her suitcase had been stolen.

Roughly 90 minutes after that, Melissa’s vehicle was spotted near her grandfather’s church—where she volunteered as a Sunday school teacher. She returned to the church half an hour later. In that exact window of time, Melissa was seen by the pond. And that was enough for investigators to start zeroing in.

What Police Found at the Church

When police searched the church, they found a rolling pin that matched injuries discovered during Sandra’s autopsy. The handle had been bent. Blood on the object was tested and confirmed to belong to Sandra Cantu.

Melissa Huckaby was arrested and charged with Sandra’s murder.

A Disturbing Pattern Emerges

In court, prosecutors argued that Sandra’s murder wasn’t a spontaneous act. They believed Melissa had done this for attention—an idea that sounded absurd until they outlined what came before.

Just weeks prior, Melissa had reportedly given the same sedative to a seven-year-old girl. That child survived. Less than a month before Sandra’s murder, Melissa also allegedly poisoned her ex-boyfriend. He survived, too.

The prosecution’s theory was that these were practice runs. Sandra was the final act Melissa had been escalating toward.

To avoid the death penalty, Melissa took a plea deal. She admitted guilt—first-degree murder.

Melissa’s Statement and Sentencing

When she stood in court to speak to Sandra’s family, Melissa said, “I still cannot understand why I did what I did. This is a question I will struggle with for the rest of my life.”

She asked for forgiveness. Claimed that God had already forgiven her. Said Sandra had not suffered.

That last claim stood in brutal contrast to the medical evidence—and most people didn’t buy it. Certainly not the judge. And definitely not the public.

Melissa Huckaby was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“She knew what she was doing,” neighbor Josie Orozco later told reporters. “She could have asked for help. She could have gone to a doctor if she was sick this way.”