MOST POPULAR: Video, stories and more
SIGN-UP: Get breaking news sent to you
Police are not saying much about the prior case of a missing girl at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, except to confirm that it has now become a part of their larger investigation into accused killer Melissa Huckaby.
Ten weeks before Sandra Cantu was abducted and murdered, another little girl went missing from the mobile home park, only to be found hours later -- according to the girl's family -- in the company of Melissa Huckaby.
On the afternoon of January 17th, according to a Tracy Police log, the girl was reported missing by her family. She returned two and half hours later. According to the family, the girl had spent the afternoon with Melissa Huckaby without their permission.
ABC7 spoke with the girl's mother and sister at their home. They said Huckaby had taken the girl to several local parks and given her a cup of water from a local fast food restaurant. They did not want to appear on camera, but the sister told ABC7 by telephone, the little girl acted strangely when she got home.
"Her speech was slurred, like she had a really bad lisp. She kept falling asleep. She would cry like something was wrong with her. She couldn't stand up without help. She couldn't walk. Every time she tried to walk, she's fall," said the girl's sister.
The family says they took the little girl to Sutter Tracy Memorial Hospital, where she was examined. A police log for January 17 confirms the family's account that the girl tested positive for the muscle relaxant "benzodiazepine."
"Was Melissa Huckaby involved?" asked ABC7's Laura Anthony.
"Any report with Ms. Huckaby's name on it, whether it's this report or a traffic collision, is part of our investigation," said Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman.
Now that Sandra Cantu is dead, the girl's family wonders if police should've done more to investigate their incident.
"If they would've done their job right, everything with Sandra could've been prevented and she would've been here today," said the girl's sister.
The family told ABC7, besides the drug test given to the little girl at the local hospital, she was examined for any signs of molestation and the family said that examination was negative. Police insist Monday afternoon they did everything they could to investigate the January 17th missing child case, but there was simply no probable cause to make an arrest.
Today's latest headlines | ABC7 News on your phone
Follow us on Twitter | Fan us on Facebook | Get our free widget