[2] On April 10, police arrested a local woman, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby (born February 23, 1981), and charged her with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Cantu.

[3] Sandra Renee Cantu, eight at the time of her death, lived at Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy, California,[4] with her mother, grandparents and three older siblings.

The footage, which showed Cantu crossing the street in front of her home before moving out of frame, was played on national news stations.

A search of the mobile home complex was conducted without results and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was called in to assist on the case.

Over the course of the weekend of March 28–29, police dogs, equestrian teams, all-terrain vehicles and a helicopter from the California Highway Patrol were brought in to search for Cantu.

[8] An autopsy established that Cantu had been beaten and sexually abused with a foreign object before being smothered, while toxicology results showed that she had ingested Alprazolam.

[9][10] The profile that FBI experts assigned to the case was a white male aged between 25 and 40 with a criminal history of sexual assault or child pornography.

[10] FBI agents searched the church and collected a rolling pin from the kitchen which reportedly had a "bloody smudge" on it as well as a bent handle, authorities said.

A local community organizer & relative of Cantu also established the annual Tracy Celebrates Children event in 2011 to commemorate Sandra’s life.

This free, city-wide day of play invites children and families to come together, supported by local sponsors and volunteers, to honor childhood and Sandra’s legacy.