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When 9-year-old Sandra Cantu went missing from Tracy, California, who would have thought that Melissa Huckaby, her next-door neighbor and the mother of her friend, would first kill her and then throw her in a pond after placing her inside a suitcase?
The next-door neighbor was a school teacher named Melissa Huckaby. She had a history of mental health problems and was also sometimes said to have done odd things to attract others' attention.
Even though she was under the lens, it was not confirmed until Cantu's body was found.
In April 2009, Huckaby was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. She is currently serving her sentence at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.
The chilling murder story will be uncovered in Investigation Discovery's latest season of See No Evil. The episode, titled "Someone You Trust," is slated to air on January 11 at 9 PM.
Here's the synopsis of the episode:
"In 2009 in Tracy, Calif., a little girl vanishes after playing at a friend's house, leaving her family desperate for answers; with no leads and few clues, investigators must rely on surveillance footage to piece together the horrifying truth."
Melissa Huckaby had a history of mental illness
According to Huckaby's neighbors, she had a history of mental illness. When police narrowed down on her as the perpetrator of Cantu's killing, she started making up stories.
She told police that she was playing hide and seek with Cantu when Cantu went ahead and zipped herself inside a suitcase. She added that by the time she realized that Cantu was inside the suitcase, she had already died. So, in a panic, Melissa dumped the suitcase, with Cantu's body inside it, into the pond.
A rolling pin, found at the church Melissa visited on the fateful day, had the child's blood on it.
Melissa Huckaby looked up on the internet about killing a child prior to murdering Cantu
According to investigators, Melissa ran a search on the internet about how to kill a child. She also read some case studies regarding the same. Although she never admitted it, these findings showed that the murder was pre-meditated.
Coincidences surrounding Huckaby
On the day Cantu went missing, Huckaby sent a message to her mother saying, "Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4 p.m. I don't know if that makes a difference or not."
Huckaby was also the person who told the police that she had found a note that read, “Cantu locked in a suitcase. Throw in water on Bacchetti Road and Whitehall Road."
Huckaby's SUV was spotted at the crime scene
A retired U.S. Marine and his wife claimed to have seen Melissa Huckaby at the irrigation pond on the day Sandra disappeared. This was the final lead that the police needed.
Melissa was arrested later in the month and was charged with the murder of Cantu. She was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
