CA Police Criticized in Missing Girl Case

Police called the disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu a missing persons case, not an abduction, for 10 days — until some farm workers drained an irrigation pond and found her body stuffed in a suitcase. Some residents and a law-enforcement expert say authorities in Tracy should have publicly expressed more urgency about the case and warned of the danger that could be lurking in their Northern California community.

But police say that despite their initial uncertainty about Sandra's fate, they did everything they could, scouring the area, calling in reinforcements and exploring theories from dealing with a runaway to looking for a kidnapper.

"Until we had an indication that Sandra had been killed, we were treating this as a missing persons case," said Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman.

"We had no indication of an abduction," he said. "We wanted to be as careful as possible.

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