Searching for Sandra

Where was Sandra?


Across the country, parents watched with growing panic as the surveillance video is replayed on the evening news: a young girl in black leggings and a Hello Kitty t-shirt, skipping alone through the mobile home park where she

lived. Her bouncing steps carry her quickly across the screen and beyond the camera’s view—just two weeks after she celebrated her eighth birthday, Sandra Cantu disappeared.


Within days, panic gave way to horror when investigators report that Sandra’s neighbor, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, had been arrested and charged with the rape and murder of the young girl.


Sandra’s death at the hands of a trusted adult female sent a powerful message to parents everywhere: The days of warning against “Stranger Danger” are

long gone, having been replaced by an even darker era where stereotypes no longer exist and families can never be sure who to trust.