Sandra Cantu Update 9 April

When Sandra Cantu's family learned that the child's dead body had been stuffed in a suitcase, piercing screams filled the air.

"I heard screams that I'd never heard come out of human beings before," said Sandra's uncle, Joe Chavez. "Primal screams of love and fear like the worst horror movie you could ever watch."

For the first time since realizing their worst fear, Sandra's family emerged briefly from seclusion Wednesday to visit the growing memorial at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where the 8-year-old disappeared March 27.

"It gives us comfort, and it's a testament to the heart that Sandra had and how many people she touched," said Angie Chavez, Sandra's aunt as she surveyed the flowers, candles, and stuffed animals at the entrance of the park.

On learning of her death, Sandra's mother and grandmother had to be hospitalized.

So far, no suspects have been identified, but 15 search warrants have been served as Tracy police and FBI agents scour the area in search of Sandra's killer.

"We feel a great deal of pressure. We want to find who is responsible for this," said Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. "We don't want to rush to judgment and we don't want people tried in the press."

Although an autopsy has been completed, results are pending. Sources say no visible signs of trauma were apparent during the initial examination. Toxicology and tissue samples

were being sent to a pathologist for analysis to help determine the official cause of death, which could take up to eight weeks.

"It's complete innocence taken for absolutely no reason," said Chavez, who called for the death penalty for her killer or killers "It's ridiculous, absurd and grotesque."

Sandra's body was discovered Monday morning stuffed inside a large black suitcase with rollers by farm workers draining an irrigation pond just two miles from mobile home park where she lived with her family.

"There's a monster out there. He's got to be apprehended, he's got to be put away," said Jose Chavez, Sandra's grandfather.

Wednesday, Tracy police allowed only the residents to enter the park after spectators drove through to snap pictures of the little girl's house.

Sandra's grisly death — the first in Tracy since October 2007 — has hit this small community hard, even affecting veteran police in the department, which has assigned all of its 25 detectives and several in its patrol division to the case.

Thus far, the department has interviewed several people, including Lane Lawless, 77, pastor of the Clover Road Baptist Church, which was searched for evidence on Tuesday.

The pastor's wife, Connie Lawless, said the couple had nothing to do with Sandra's killing and that authorities were interested in them only because they lived down the street from her and she used to play with their great-grandchild.

Police said Lawless is not a suspect and no arrests are imminent.

Other Sandra Cantu Updates
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Sheneman also said the department is not focusing on any one person.

"We are looking at a lot of people," he said. "Everyone we are talking to has been cooperative. We are working very diligently to locate and identify the killer or killers of Sandra Cantu."