March 27, 2009 was the last day Sandra Cantu, an 8-year-old from Tracy, CA, was seen alive by her family and friends. Sandra had gone to visit a friend and was headed back home. A video from a surveillance camera outside the family’s house in Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park showed Sandra skipping towards her home when something distracted her. She then started walking away from her home and also away from the only exit to the mobile home park. She was found 10 days later stuffed inside a garmet bag dumped in an irrigation pond less than a mile from her home.
Sandra was a very talkative girl who made friends wherever she’d go and was always eager to help. A second-grader at Jacobsen Elementary School, Sandra is described as “bright, bubbly and friendly” by her aunt, and loved Hannah Montana, Hello Kitty, and visiting her friends in the neighborhood.
On May 23, 2009, Kriste and Bob Hennick, Kriste’s Bird Houses in Orcutt, delivered a special cottage in memory of Sandra to Jacobsen Elementary. The couple want the cottage to be not only a remembrance of Sandra, but also a way for children to process their healing. They took into account that Sandra’s favorite colors were pink and purple and added those features to the exterior color and flowers of the playhouse. The cottage was placed in the kindergarten playground.
Sandra's Cottage
Shadows of Crime: Lifting the Veil 
She was such a beautiful little girl and seemed not to have a care in the world as she strolled home that day. She truly was an “innocent” victim.
A fitting tribute to her, Sandra’s Cottage for the school children.
Oh what a colorful and imaginative cottage! Looks like a fairy tale creation for little girls.
Sandra was a special little girl full of innocence. That day in March seemed both a happy and tragic day for her. She was last seen skipping home on a survellience camera. Later, she was discovered by a farm worker as he drained an irrigation pond.
I agree, Sandra was a special little girl. It is a travesty that she lost her life at the hands of a very sick individual who should have been locked up long ago. Looking at pictures of Huckabee gives me the creeps.
Sandra’s mother and family need to be added to Huckaby’s list of victims. Huckaby has created many with the taking of this innocent child’s life.
When the story came out about Huckaby being Sandra’s killer, we found more and more info that this person had many problems. Stealing, possible arson and the doping of another child but she was still allowed to keep her child and be around other children. Her family failed because they had to know she was sick. I don’t think a person wakes up one day and goes from being a good mom and Sunday school teacher to the monster we know she is now.
Also, the policed failed society too when it was reported that she had taken a child and brought it back with drugs in its system. She should have been arrested then and put away for a long time. She could have killed that child also and nobody knows what she might have done to that child.
It seems like almost everyday some family or child is killed at the hands of the parents. I just don’t believe there were no signs that these people were insane.
Just like the women that buried her son at the park. She had been kicked out of her families home and was homeless. Her family had to know there was something wrong with her. Also in the case of Caylee Anthony. All the signs show that Casey was a very selfish sick individual but nothing was done to keep the child from her.
Families need to act sooner when they believe a family member is mentally ill and is capable of violence or other crimes. These monsters need to be stopped immediately and I think the courts need to take swifter action when it is brought to their attention as when there is child abuse. So many times these helpless victims are made to stay with their abusers or have to visit them.
I don’t know the answer to all these horrible problems but we have to start somewhere and it has to be sooner than later.
Thank you for visiting our blog site. This is a beginning at examining crimes, victims, laws, resources, law enforcement, and perpetrators in an effort to understand and develop strategies to protect our children and families, provide better resources, and challenge the penalty system for better management of perpetrators. Bear with us as we develop our site and organize to better facilitate the flow of information which will be useful in strategic planning. We will begin with case information to lay the groundwork in forumlating ideas and theories in our goals. Iinput from our readers will be most helpful and is appreciated.
Shadow:
I am so glad to see this,a forum about the young victims,and the chance to perhaps go back into the criminal’s background and younger life for most of the time we see there was always viewing porn at a very young age,for the serial killers we know that besides the porn we will see a fascination with fire and also an enjoyment of torturing and killing animals.Ann Rule is my favorite true-crime writer for she delves into all these things…so many times we know she goes back into the lives of the criminal’s parents.
What families see in a loved one in their formative years may seem strange but the families have no way of knowing just what is in their young loved ones mind. So sad that only after the criminal is caught after committing horrendous crimes do the experts…psychologist,psychiatrists,etc. have the chance to unravel all the cruel horrendous thoughts and deeds of the deviants minds.
I will be watching for the next case(s)you post(or blog).It should be very interesting to read. Good luck with this forum. I think you have chosen a very interesting topic that people will be quite interested in. I know I am.
I just hope that Huckaby doesn’t ruin anymore lives…like her own child. How awful it will be for her to grow up and find out about her mother.
We now have more charges leveled against Huckaby. Allegedly, she poisoned a man by putting something in his drink. Then there’s the other child taken to the park by Huckaby and returned a few hours later with slurred speech and stagering. I believe this is one case which will bring more shock to people than the Casey Anthony case.