Taken From Us: Killers Killing Children

STATS

At any given time ….

83,957 missing persons in the U.S.

50,569 are adults (over 18 years old)

33,388 are children (under 18 years old)

43,415 are male

40,530 are female

47,254 are white

27,676 are African American

According to the NCIC Database: For the last ten years, 750,000 people are missing on average

This is down 24% since 2004

One of those services, called Teen Safe. This app allows parents to monitor their children’s activities.

Some people have argued that tracking your child’s every move puts a strain on the parent-child relationship. As it may anger the child that you are monitoring their moves, isn’t it wise to explain to the child that it is for their safety?

I would suggest it myself and would try to show my child some of the stats on missing children. How else would they really become aware of the dangers out there?

Some psychologists argue that it would affect the child’s confidence and their trust in their parents. They claim that it could affect their confidence and increase their anxiety. One would have to decide for themselves, but I would think (my opinion) that saving my child’s life is more important than that child being upset about parents monitoring them.

Other advocates of the tracking apps claim that it is the parents right to be allowed to monitor their children’s activities. In today’s world of danger and the fact that parents are responsible for their children’s actions would lead us to agree.

https://www.factretriever.com/missing-people-facts

A search is on for a local child

A little one, so meek and mild

A mama’s wrath came raging down

And people cry all over town

In this case … the mother was her friend's mother

…….............................Case #1 Sandra Cantu

A beautiful child; only eight years old went missing after visiting a playmate.

On March 27, 2009; Sandra Cantu returned from school and informed her parents she was going to play with a friend. She then returned home and left again a little after 4:00 p.m. to play with another neighbor-friend. When Sandra did not return home for dinner, the family called the police at 7:53 p.m.

Sandra Cantu lived at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy, California. She lived with her mother, her grandparents and three older siblings.

FBI was called in and over the weekend, dogs, ATV’s, a helicopter and equestrian teams were out searching for the little girl. Police were looking into possible suspects around the neighborhood, while tips started coming in. One tip led police to a local man who had been seen two years earlier kissing Sandra on the mouth. But, after careful investigation, he was cleared in her disappearance. A $22,000.00 reward was put into place and the investigation continued.

Surveillance videos from the neighborhood spotted Sandra crossing the street in front of her home and then slowly faded out of site. In the meantime, one woman who lived in the same mobile home park, sent the mother of Cantu a text. In it, she told the mother to tell the police that she was missing a suitcase and it had been stolen from her driveway.

I can’t even imagine the horror that a family faces when a loved one is missing. The terror that rips through your soul and the rage that follows the truth discovered would have to be the worst feelings that anyone could have.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, roughly 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States -- that's roughly 2,000 per day. Of those, there are 115 child "stranger abduction" cases each year, which means the child was taken by an unknown person.

Missing Children in America: Unsolved Cases - ABC News

abcnews.go.com/US/missing-children-america-unsolved-cases/story? id=19126967

Statistics:
According to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File, there are 88,089 active missing person records, of which juveniles under the age of 18 account for 32,121 (36.5%) of the records. (as of December 31, 2017)

The Second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children (NISMART-2), released by the Department of Justice in 2002 and spanning the years 1997 to 1999, reported that of the 797,500 children reported missing in a one-year period, 203,900 were abducted by family members and 58,200 were abducted by non-relatives. One-hundred and fifteen were classified as being taken by a stranger. {CNN.com}

"AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alerts are emergency messages broadcast when a law enforcement agency determines that a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger. The broadcasts include information about the child and the abductor, including physical descriptions as well as information about the abductor's vehicle - which could lead to the child's recovery." {CNN.com}

"The first 12-24 hours are the most critical in an active missing persons investigation," Amy Dobbs, an investigator with the Knox County Sheriff's Office, told USA TODAY Network. "The longer it takes for a case to be reported and become an active investigation, the less likely a positive outcome will occur."

For children, the first three hours are especially critical because 76% of abducted children who are killed die within that time frame, according to a 2006 (Washington State Attorney General Office)

The Mystery of the Missing Suitcase

During the vigil the next day, a woman approached the police. She was reported to be crying, very upset and hyperventilating. She had found a note on the ground. The note read “Cantu locked in stolin suitcase. Thrown in water on Bacchetti Road and Whitehall Road.” This happened to be the same woman that had sent the mother of Sandra Cantu that strange text.

Because this woman, Melissa Huckaby was a female; she was not immediately put on the suspect list. Their view was that she is seeking attention in the media.

Facts About Melissa Huckaby

She was a Sunday School teacher at the Clover Road Baptist Church, where the former Pastor was her grandfather.

She lived in the same mobile home park as Sandra Cantu and her family.

Her five -year old daughter was a playmate of Sandra Cantu.

She studied criminology at a local community college before her and her daughter moved in with her grandparents at Orchard Estates.

The Tip

A retired U.S. Marine and his wife reported that they had seen Melissa Huckaby in her SUV on their property at Bacchetti Road and Whitehall Road between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. When they approached her, she told them that “I just had to pee real quick.” Later they recognized her from being on television. That is when they called the authorities.

Because Huckaby had been the one that claimed she had a suitcase stolen and because she was the same person that approached the police about a note she found on the ground, they quickly zoned in on her as a suspect.

Surveillance video showed that little Sandra was seen walking toward the Huckaby residence at 3:54 p.m. 8 minutes later, the Huckaby SUV was seen leaving the residence. This is the exact time she had called to report her suitcase as stolen. She claimed she had left it sitting in her driveway.

85 minutes, the video places her driving away from the church she attended. Thirty minutes later she returned to the church. This thirty minutes is the timeframe she was seen at the retired Marine’s pond.

As the investigation moved in on Huckaby, her home was searched as well as the church. There is where they found the missing pieces.

From the kitchen, they confiscated a rolling pin. On it was a bloody smudge print along with a bent handle.

Ten days later that irrigation pond was drained, and an Eddie Bauer suitcase emerged. Inside was the body of little Sandra. During the autopsy, they found that she had been beaten, sexually assaulted with a foreign object and smothered. Toxicology reports concluded that Benzodiazepine Alprazolam (Xanax) had been found in her system.

April 10^th, police arrested twenty-eight-year-old, Melissa Huckaby and charged her with kidnapping, rape and murder. She pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. She received life without parole.

The results of the DNA taken on the rolling pin came back as a match to the little girl.

History of Huckaby

Huckaby had a disturbing past. She had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Her past included cutting herself (self-harm), setting fires and verbally attacking other people.

Ten weeks before the murder of Cantu, another child had been reported missing. But before the search went into effect, Huckaby returned the child in her SUV. Parents later took their child to the Emergency Room because the child was sluggish and seemed sedated. Her speech was slurred. What was found in her system was muscle relaxants. The child said that Huckaby had given her water to drink and that it tasted like medicine. She also could not remember events of that day that she spent with Huckaby.

Huckaby was questioned by police but was released due to no evidence being found to charge her.

In 2007, Huckaby set two fires in a home where she lived at the time.

Also, a man had been arrested for driving under the influence and later, was released due to evidence that Huckaby had drugged him.

At her trial, she did give a weak apology to the mother of Sandra Cantu. Her regret seemed to be mostly because she would be taken away from her own daughter. The details of Sandra’s murder were locked and sealed until after the sentencing. When they were released, the public was informed of the little girl’s fate in the hands of a sick woman. Huckaby had used a torn piece of cloth and made a noose. She poisoned the child, sexually assaulted her with a foreign object and then she choked her. Then she took her body and dumped her into the pond. During the sentencing, she told the mother that she had not sexually abused Sandra and that “She didn’t suffer.”

The DNA results proved that Huckaby had sexually abused her and the reports of her injuries were a cut lip, abrasion to an elbow and injuries to her genitals. Clearly, she did suffer.

Teardrop in the Rain

A little girl comes home from school

Walked in the door and broke the rule

I guess the smile on her face

Made her mama feel out of place

A little boy just like the rest

Accidently passed the test

I guess the good grades he could make

Was just too much for his pa to take

A search is on for a local child

A little one … so meek and mild

A mama’s wrath came raging down

And people cry all over town

“When you look up in the sky

A tiny rain will pass you by

A tiny drop falls on your face

And it seems so out of place

And for every raindrop

There is a teardrop

The children’s tears are pouring down

The silent cries are fallin’ round

Another teardrop in the rain

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