MYRTLE BEACH: BRITTANEE DREXEL, 17, GONE WITHOUT A TRACE

BLUE WATER RESORT, MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

2001 South Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach, SC 29578

GEORGE ZINKHAN: GEORGIA'S KILLER PROFESSOR JEEP FOUND IN RAVINE

Georgia: Map of area where police are searching for Professor George Zinkhan

WSB News (WSB RADIO)
New Photo of Fugitive Professor / By Jon Lewis @ April 30, 2009

The television show, "America's Most Wanted" has posted Zinkhan on their website, and the show is considering airing a segment on the crime and the hunt on May 16. The 57 year old marketing professor's passport is missing and police say Zinkhan had purchased a ticket to the Netherlands prior to the shooting. The ticket is for May 2. Zinkhan owns a home in Amsterdam.

MyFOXAtlanta.com
George Zinkhan

AP / May 1: The red Jeep belonging to murder suspect and former University of Georgia professor George Zinkhan is transported on a flatbed truck in Bogart, Ga. Authorities who have searched nearly

Georgia Professor Forced Jeep to Crash Into Ravine, Police Say
Friday, May 01, 2009 / FOX NEWS

Authorities believe a fugitive Georgia professor on the run since allegedly gunning down his wife and two others intentionally put his Jeep into drive and let it plummet into a ravine near his home.

He also theorize that George Zinkhan, 57, is still in the Atlanta area — where he lives and teaches business courses at the University of Georgia — and that the rampage may have been sparked by a fight with his wife, who reportedly was planning to leave him.

"We don't believe he drove it off, 'cause it's in drive," one officer told reporters of the crashed Jeep, according to MyFOXAtlanta.com. "Looks like he put it in drive and maybe kind of pushed it off the edge."

Police hadn't previously revealed a motive, but FBI agent Greg Jones said Friday that interviews with friends and family indicate the shooting likely stemmed from a domestic dispute between Zinkhan and his wife, 47-year-old attorney Marie Bruce.

Authorities have some indication she was preparing to file for divorce, he said.

Detectives swarmed the heavily wooded area where Zinkhan's wrecked red Jeep was discovered Friday, but turned up no sign of the fugitive professor. Some officers in pickup trucks drove down dirt roads and helicopters searched from above.

BEWARE! STAY ALERT! GEORGE ZINKHAN IS STILL OUT THERE AMONG US. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518589,00.html

Letter From UGA President Michael Adams To Students http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/19299724/detail.html

PHILIP MARKOFF: OWES $130,000; TAXPAYERS PAY FOR ATTORNEY

Photo by Mark Garfinkel (file)
Philip Markoff appeared in court Tuesday with his lawyer, John Salsberg.

Philip Markoff $130G in debt
Appointed tax-paid defense attorney
By Jessica Fargen and Jessica Van SackTuesday,

April 28, 2009

The second-year medical student accused of murdering an erotic masseuse with a bullet to her heart is $130,000 in debt and has been awarded a taxpayer-paid defense attorney, according to court records.

Philip Markoff, 23, does not receive money from his parents and has been living off his student loans while attending Boston University, according to a court document in Boston Municipal Court. Markoff is now suspended from BU.

"(Markoff) stated he did not receive financial support from his family. (Markoff) further stated he was unemployed for a lengthy period of time and was essentially living off of student loans in the amount of $130,000,” according to an April 23 document signed by a probation officer.

The officer interviewed Markoff on April 21 and wrote that he signed an indigency form. That same day, the Committee for Public Counsel Services appointed attorney John Salsberg to represent Markoff.

WHAT OTHER SECRETS DOES PHILIP MARKOFF HAVE FOR US?

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/ 2009_04_28_Philip_Markoff__130G__in_debt:_Appointed_tax-paid_defense_attorney/srvc=home&position=1

CARLOS PEREZ-OLIVO: WIFE KILLER GETS 25 YEARS, MOTIVE IS MONEY

Carlos Perez-Olivo listens as he is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.
CBS

Carlos Perez-Olivo listens as he is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.
CBS

Perez-Olivo Gets 25 Years For Wife's Murder
Former Clinton Neighbor To Spend Next Quarter-Century In Prison
WCBSTV.com / Dec 2, 2008
Reporting Tony Aiello


WHITE PLAINS (CBS) / The Chappaqua man convicted of murdering his wife after staging a carjacking off the side of Route 100 in Millwood in 2006 was sentenced to 25 years to life behind prison for the crime on Tuesday.

Carlos Perez-Olivo, 60, had nothing to say in his own defense before Judge Barbara Zambelli handed down the maximum sentence with these harsh words: "The defendant is a master of deceit who contrived a diabolical plan to murder his wife for his own financial gain."

The plan involved the Nov. 18, 2006 shooting of Peggy Perez-Olivo. The motive: $900,000 in life insurance.

Last month, in an exclusive jailhouse interview, Perez-Olivo stuck by his claim that an unknown carjacker shot his wife.

But the jury found Perez-Olivo shot her in the head and himself in the stomach as part of a cover-up.

The Perez-Olivos had lived just down the street from Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The couple's three children still support their father. Their oldest son, Carlitos, held back tears as a letter from the siblings was read to the judge.

WIFE-KILLERS NEVER THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN...
http://wcbstv.com/local/carlos.perez.olivo.2.877772.html

PHILIP MARKOFF: PREDATOR / KILLER SAVED SOUVENIRS FROM VICTIMS

Megan McAllister's email to ABC NEWS
"Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public. All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly! A police officer in Boston (or many) is trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new?? Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share and wonderful, meaningful life together."

Police Source: Items From 2 Victims Found in Accused 'Craigslist Killer's' Apartment
FOX NEWS / Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Items from two attack victims were found in accused "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff's Boston-area apartment, a law enforcement source said.

A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that police found belongings of both women in Markoff's apartment in Quincy, south of Boston.
The source wasn't authorized to speak about evidence in the investigation.

The official would not confirm reports by the Boston Herald and ABC News that the items seized by police included the victims' underwear and that he appeared to be collecting the lingerie as "souvenirs."

The news came as more details emerged Wednesday about the case authorities are building against the 23-year-old Boston University medical student.

Markoff has been charged with targeting women who advertised erotic services on Craigslist, luring them into hotels to rob them and killing one woman who fought back.

FEEL SAFER THAT ANOTHER PREDATOR IS OFF THE STREETS!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517409,00.html

CHOMP: Megan McAllister might have become one of Phillip Markoff's victims! Does Megan McAllister still believe that Philip Markoff is innocent or will she "stand by her man?" The evidence is stacking up against him...a lot of evidence!

BOSTON: PHILIP MARKOFF "STRANGE IN DARK WAYS"

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) is a major research institution, providing an exceptional environment for students interested in basic science, clinical investigation, or public health and health services oriented research. BUSM has 660 medical students

Medical School Lab Partner of Accused Craigslist Killer Says He Was 'Disturbed'
FOXNEWS / Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A former medical school lab partner of the accused Craigslist killer said Philip Markoff was prone to profound mood swings and seemed "disturbed."

Tiffany Montgomery told The Boston Globe that she's "not even remotely surprised" that Markoff, 22, is a suspect in the case and said she was often alarmed at his extreme changes in mood.

Markoff would appear warm and friendly one day and then brooding and depressed the next, according to Montgomery.

She said she was so troubled by his behavior that she considered alerting Boston University school counselors that he might be suicidal.

"He just wasn't right in the head, and I knew it, and probably other people did, too," Montgomery, 26, told the Globe.

The two spent hours together in the lab while they were students at Boston University School of Medicine, according to Montgomery, but they never became close.


Markoff spoke only when someone else initiated a conversation, Montgomery said, adding that he seemed nice but "strange in a dark way."

Markoff is charged with murder in the April 14 shooting death of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York City at a luxury hotel in Boston and with kidnapping and armed robbery in the other assault on April 10 at a different hotel in the city.

Meanwhile, a former high school classmate of Markoff's told the Boston Herald that he was a contemptuous high school bully.

"He had this hatred for people he thought were beneath him," said the classmate, Caitlin, 23, who asked that her last name be withheld. "He saw me as beneath him and he needed to degrade me. I think he had a complex."

TIFFANY MONTGOMERY NOT SURPRISED THAT PHILIP MARKOFF IS A KILLER ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517409,00.html

CRAIGSLIST KILLER: FIANCEE SAYS PHIL MARKOFF IS BEAUTIFUL PERSON

BOSTON'S COPLEY MARRIOTT PLACE / 110 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA

BOSTON'S COPLEY MARRIOTT PLACE

The Boston Marriott Copley Place, a Boston Hotel anchors the upscale Copley Place Mall and is connected to the Prudential Center Mall. There are over 200 shops, restaurants, theatres and the Hynes Convention Center conveniently located under one roof.

Philip Markoff lives in Qunicy, and he is a Boston University pre-med student originally from upstate New York. Since his arrest, Phil Markoff has been suspended from his pre-med program.

FNC/MyFOXBoston.com / Philip Markoff, "Mr. Nice Guy...or Really Bad Dude" ???

Fiancee of Medical Student Arrested in Craigslist Killing Says He 'Could Not Hurt a Fly'

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 / ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON — The fiancee of a Boston medical school student accused of fatally shooting a woman who placed an ad on Craigslist said police have the wrong man and there is no way he could have done it.

In an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America," Megan McAllister said Philip Markoff "could not hurt a fly."

She called him "a beautiful person inside and out," according to the message read on the air Tuesday.

McAllister said she and Markoff expect to be married in August "and share a wonderful, meaningful life together."

An e-mail message sent to McAllister via her Facebook page was not immediately returned Tuesday. There was no published telephone listing for a Megan McAllister in the Boston area.

Markoff, 22, was arrested in connection with the death of a woman last week who advertised massage services on Craigslist. Police have said he also may have been involved in other crimes against women who posted ads on Craigslist.

Two of Markoff's neighbors told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday they were stunned by the accusations.

"I can't even put it into words, the disbelief I'm feeling right now," neighbor Jonathan Uva said. "This is a great guy ... Just a total disconnect from what we're hearing in the news."

Another neighbor, Mike Dye, told the show he had Markoff over to his apartment complex for parties including a Super Bowl party.

Dye said he seemed outgoing, but also rarely talked about himself.

Uva described "Just a nice, normal couple. I lived right next door to him, and I would never have expected this," Uva said. "We thought they were just regular guys ... just our neighbors, like anyone else."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR PHILIP MARKOFF, "JUST A REGULAR GUY?"
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517275,00.html

FLORIDA: PAM BIGGERS ON BUSINESS TRIP, VANISHED

Pam Biggers: More than a year after her disappearance, there's no clue as to what happened to the 52-year-old woman from Hueytown, Ala. Biggers was on a business trip in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she vanished Jan. 27, 2008. She was last seen in her hotel. All her belongings, including her cell phone and purse, were left in her hotel room.

No Clues in Missing Woman Case
By RUPA MIKKILINENI,
CNN / April 14, 2009

(April 14) -- Pam Biggers, a 52-year-old woman from Hueytown, Alabama, disappeared while on a business trip to the Florida Panhandle.

She drove to the La Quinta Inn at Panama City Beach on January 27, 2008, a Sunday. She checked in and talked with her husband over the phone about 5:30 p.m.

She told him she was going out to eat with a colleague who was staying across the hall.

After an early dinner, the two women returned to their rooms about 7 p.m., police said. And then Pamela Biggers simply disappeared.

"It's completely baffling," said her husband, Don Biggers. "All of her belongings, clothes, purse, cell phone, were left in her room."

Biggers' bed did not look slept in, police said, but it appeared that she had been reading in bed. Her open book and glasses were on the bedside table, and the pillows were propped up against the headboard.

She had not changed into her pajamas, and her hotel room key and car keys were in the room. There was no sign of struggle, police said.

Biggers' family believes that she left the hotel and either lost her way or became the victim of foul play.

READ PAM BIGGERS' STORY...

http://news.aol.com/article/missing-woman-pam-biggers/427921

HELP FIND PAM BIGGERS

http://findpambiggers.com/default.aspx

If you have any information on Pam,

please, contact the Bay County Sherriff's Office 850-747-4700.

If you see Pam, please call 911 immediately!

TRACY, CA: FOUR INDICTED FOR TEEN KIDNAP AND TORTURE

Indictment: Group shackled, tortured teen

April 1, 2009 / CNN.com /CRIME

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Four Californians are accused of kidnapping a 16-year-old boy and torturing him for nearly a year before he escaped captivity wearing only boxer shorts and a shackle on his ankle, according to an indictment released Wednesday.

Anthony Vincent Waiters, 34; Caren Ramirez, 43; Kelly Layne Lau, 30; and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, were charged with a slew of offenses, including torture, aggravated mayhem, child abuse and false imprisonment by violence that allegedly occurred from January 2008 to December 2008.

Authorities said the teen was shackled in the home of Lau and Schumacher in Tracy, about 65 miles east of San Francisco. During his captivity, the teen was tortured with a bat, knife and belt, according to court documents.

The teen escaped December 1 and walked into a fitness center about 500 feet away from the home. He was bruised and battered, wearing only boxer shorts and with his bloody ankle shackled, police said.

The four also face a new charge -- assault with caustic chemicals. The indictment accused the defendants of attacking the teen with "vitriol, corrosive acid, flammable substance and caustic chemical with the intent to injure the flesh and disfigure the body of the said victim."

The 17-count indictment was handed down by a San Joaquin County grand jury on March 23. Lau and Schumacher being held on a $2.26 million bail, while Ramirez and Waiters are being held without bail, a jail official said Wednesday.

The judge has issued a gag order in the case prohibiting attorneys on either side from speaking publicly.

Lau, Ramirez and Waiters all pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Schumacher, Lau's husband, postponed entering a plea until his attorney, John Casanave, has an opportunity to review transcripts from the grand jury investigation, the San Joaquin Herald reported Wednesday.

EVIL PEOPLE DESERVE EVIL PUNISHMENT... http://www.edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/01/shackled.teen/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

CRAIGSLIST MURDER: JULISSA BRISMAN BODY FOUND AT MARRIOTT COPLEY PLACE HOTEL

AP / Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York. Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of Brisman at the Marriott Copley.

FNC / Surveillance footage from the Marriot Copley Place hotel shows the suspect in the death of a woman there

AP / Frame from video surveillance camera at the Marriott Copley provided by the Boston Police Department shows a 'person of interest' in attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels. Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of one woman at the ritzy Marriott Copley. Both women had advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service, and both were guests at luxury hotels.

Boston 'Craigslist' Killing May Be Linked to Attempted Robbery in Rhode Island
Friday, April 17, 2009 / ASSOCIATED PRESS

WARWICK, R.I. — An exotic dancer who was bound and held at gunpoint at a suburban Providence hotel by a man who answered her Craigslist ad suggested that her ordeal could be linked to a Boston hotel slaying, police said Friday.

A 26-year-old Las Vegas woman who police believe was offering sex for money through the Craigslist posting was attacked at a Holiday Inn Express late Thursday night, Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney said. The assailant fled when the victim's husband returned to the room.

Earlier this week, a woman who advertised massage services on Craigslist was shot and killed at a luxury hotel in Boston.

McCartney said that after Thursday's attack in Warwick, "the victim apparently made a statement to police that in her opinion, this situation mirror-imaged what happened up in Boston. I think at the point in time our police responded, nobody was thinking about that."

McCartney said he didn't know specifics of the woman's Craigslist ad, but earlier in the day said he had been told she was advertising massage services.

The description of the suspect in Thursday's attack also matches that of a "person of interest" wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York City at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston on Tuesday night. And the same person may have been involved in the robbery last week of another Las Vegas woman at the Westin Copley Hotel, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said.

The 29-year-old woman had also advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service.

Police in Warwick, which is about 60 miles south of Boston, describe the suspect as a clean-cut white male, approximately 6-feet tall, 200-pounds, with blond hair, wearing a black coat and blue jeans.

SOMEONE KNOWS THIS BLOND-HAIRED MAN. DO YOU KNOWS HIM? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,516928,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

SANDRA CANTU: MELISSA HUCKABY CHARGED - KIDNAP, RAPE, MURDER

FNC / April 14: Melissa Huckaby, a volunteer Sunday school teacher, cries as she hears the charges of murder against her in the death of little Sandra Cantu.

YOUTUBE.COM / Melissa Huckaby, 28, arrested in the murder of Sandra Cantu, age 8


Police search the shed at Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, California

California Sunday School Teacher Charged With Murder, Rape, Kidnapping of Sandra Cantu, 8
FOX NEWS / Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A female Sunday school teacher kidnapped, raped and murdered an 8-year-old girl who was the close friend of her 5-year-old daughter, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped it into a pond, prosecutors contended Tuesday.

Charges were filed against Melissa Huckaby, 28, in the killing of little Sandra Cantu ahead of her afternoon arraignment, which was held about 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT).

Huckaby, led into the San Joaquin County courtroom in a red jumpsuit and shackles, did not enter a plea.

She cried as a judge read the charge: one count of murder with the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14 and murder in the course of a kidnapping.

Authorities have not said how or where Sandra was killed, nor discussed a possible motive.
They say they don't expect other arrests and believe she acted alone.

The gruesome crime has shocked and terrified residents in Tracy, a city of about 78,000 people, 60 miles east of San Francisco.

Huckaby, a volunteer Sunday school teacher at her grandfather's Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, was arrested Friday after hours of interrogation by police after a 10-day-long search for Sandra and a suspect in her killing.

The special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd acts with a child under 14 and a murder during a kidnapping mean that Huckaby, if convicted, could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

WHAT OTHER SECRETS WILL WE HEAR?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,515675,00.html

CAYLEE ANTHONY: GOTCHA! DEATH PENALTY FOR CASEY

CAYLEE ANTHONY (left) CASEY ANTHONY (right)

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony, shown in this July 22, 2008 file photo, right, a Florida woman accused of murdering her daughter, Caylee Anthony, shown in this file photo, left, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office said Monday. (Pool Photo/AP)

Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty in Casey Anthony Case
In Reversal, Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for Death of Caylee Anthony
By SCOTT MICHELSApril 13, 2009

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Casesy Anthony, a Florida woman accused of murdering her daughter, a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office said today.

In December, the state's attorney's office filed court papers indicating that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in connection with the first-degree murder case.

In a notice of intent filed today, prosecutors said additional information has become available. The filing says that "sufficient aggravating circumstances exist to justify the imposition of the death penalty," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

A spokeswoman for Jose Baez, Anthony's attorney, said in a statement, "This is not a death penalty case. We will do whatever is necessary to defend Casey Anthony from the state trying to take her life. We already have death-qualified defense lawyers on our team and are prepared for a vigorous defense."

Anthony, 22, has pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter, Caylee. She is scheduled to go on trial in October.

Frustrating, Curious Investigation Into Caylee Anthony's Disappearance

The child's remains were found Dec. 11, less than a quarter-mile from the home she shared with her mother and grandparents.

START READING. THIS CASE WILL BE AROUND ALL SUMMER...
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=7328024&page=1

PHIL SPECTOR: JURY SAYS "GUILTY OF SHOOTING LANA CLARKSON"

Lana Clarkson

Over the course of the trial, which began in October, the prosecution portrayed Spector as a sadistic misogynist who had a three-decade "history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women" when he was drunk. A prosecutor told jurors in her summation that "by the grace of God, five other women got the empty chamber and lived to tell. Lana just happened to be the sixth woman, who got the bullet."
By Harriet Ryan / LA TIMES /7:10 PM PDT, April 13, 2009

CITY OF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA (EAST SIDE OF LOS ANGELES)
Phil Spector's Alhambra, California mansion

SEE THE DEATH SCENE LAYOUT AT
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-081207me-clue12-fl,0,7055058.flash

Source: Times reporting

Graphic by Matt Moody

Interactivity by Brady MacDonald

AP / Jurors found Phil Spector guilty of murder in the second-degree for the shooting death of 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, although the majority was convinced he was guilty.

Phil Spector Convicted of Second-Degree Murder
By JONATHAN LLOYD
Updated 6:07 PM PDT, Monday, Apr 13, 2009

Music producer Phil Spector was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in the February 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.

Jurors also found Spector personally used the firearm while committing the crime at his Alhambra mansion. Sentencing has been set for May 29.

Second-degree murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison. The firearm enhancement adds three, four or 10 years in prison, according to the district attorney's office.

The judge denied bail and Spector, wearing a fire-engine red tie and pocket square, was taken into custody after the verdict was announced. He also wore a "Barack Obama Rocks" button on his left suit lapel.

Spector and his wife entered the courtroom at about 2 p.m., and the verdict was read at about 15 minutes later. His son and daughter were seated next to him at the counsel's table.

Spector's wife, Rachelle, cried as the decision was announced. Spector showed no reaction as his attorney rubbed his client's left shoulder.

Members of the Clarkson family, including her mother and sister, also were in the courtroom.

"This is why we do this job," said prosecutor Alan Jackson. "If there's a wrong, we can attempt to try to right it. Today is when the Clarkson family gets their justice."

As of Monday morning, the jury had spent about 30 hours discussing the case over eight days since March 26.

Spector, 69, was charged with murder in the Feb. 3, 2003, shooting death of the 40-year-old actress and House of Blues VIP hostess at his mansion in Alhambra. He claims she shot herself with his gun.

IT'S BEEN A LONG WAIT FOR THIS VERDICT...

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Jury-Reaches-Verdict-in-Spector-Case.html

SANDRA CANTU: MELISSA HUCKABY, IS LIFE A LIE?

Connie Lawless, from Tracy, hugs her grandson Phillip Hughes, from Whittier, after speaking to the media about her granddaughter Melissa Huckaby after church services at Clover Road Baptist Church on Sunday.(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Staff)

Sunday services are held at Clover Road Baptist Church on Sunday, April 12, 2009 in Tracy, Calif. Police believe that Melissa Huckaby, from Tracy, killed Sandra Cantu at the church. Huckaby is arrested in suspicion of kidnapping and killing of 8-year old Sandra Cantu. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Staff)

Huckaby's family: 28-year-old's arrest for killing Sandra Cantu is 'surreal'
By Malaika Fraley and Matthias Gafni / Contra Costa Times / 04/12/2009

TRACY — The family of Melissa Huckaby preached of strength during adversity as they led an Easter service in their tiny Tracy church Sunday, speaking for the first time about the 28-year-old murder suspect and the death of Sandra Cantu.

"People think we're going on business as usual," said Brett Lawless, Huckaby's uncle who delivered the sermon. "Nothing will be as usual after the events of the last 10 days. Not for the community, not for the church, not for our immediate family and certainly not for the family of Sandra Cantu."

After the services, Huckaby's grandmother, the wife of the church pastor, spoke to reporters.

"We're just as shocked," Connie Lawless said. "This is completely outside of what we know of Melissa.

"It's been difficult for all of us. It's surreal," she said.

A congregation of about 20, along with a throng of media, sat in Clover Baptist Church, a half-block from Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where Huckaby was arrested Friday night on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra — a playmate of Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter.

(snip)

Huckaby was raised in Orange County and graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1999. She moved to Tracy seven or eight months ago to help her grandparents, then decided to stay and enroll her daughter in kindergarten, family members said.

Her father said Huckaby's only known emotional issues stem from a divorce.

READ MORE...THERE WILL BE STUNNING UPDATES LATER THIS WEEK!

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12128530?source=most_viewed

MELISSA HUCKABY: SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH KILLING SANDRA CANTU

San Joaquin County Seriff's department shows the booking photo of Melissa Huckaby taken Saturday April 11, 2009. Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher, has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing a California girl whose body was found in a suitcase. Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman says 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was arrested late Friday night after voluntarily going to police for questioning about the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. (AP Photo/San Joaquin County Sheriff) (AP)

A girl places a stuffed animal at a memorial for Sandra Cantu in Tracy, Calif., Thursday, April 9, 2009, near the home of Cantu. The body of Cantu, 8, was discovered inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond on Monday, April 6, 2009 after she was last seen at her home on March 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) (AP)

Calif. Sunday School Teacher Booked in Child Death
Police: Motive unknown as Sunday school teacher arrested in killing of girl found in suitcase
By TERRY COLLINS Associated Press WriterTRACY, Calif. April 11, 2009 (AP)

Police said Saturday they do not know what motivated the Sunday school teacher they arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, a local minister's granddaughter, was arrested late Friday about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers, said police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. She was being held without bail in connection with the death of Sandra Cantu, the San Joaquin County sheriff's office said.

Sandra disappeared on March 27 and hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials turned out to search for her. On April 6, farmworkers draining an irrigation pond found the suitcase.

Huckaby walked into the police station Friday and started a conversation with officers, Sheneman said at a news conference.

"She was calm, cool and collected, then she became very emotional .... She went back and forth from being calm to emotional."

READ MORE ABOUT THIS BIZARRE CASE OF SANDRA CANTU...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7313247

TRACY,CA: WAS SANDRA CANTU FOUND IN NEIGHBOR'S SUITCASE?

Police guard entrance of the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park where Sandra Cantu lived. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Tracy, California: Police found Sandra Cantu's body in an Eddie Bauer suitcase. They have not released a description of the suitcase.

Tracy Woman Claims Someone Stole Her Luggage
April 10, 2009

TRACY, Calif. -- A Tracy woman who lives in the mobile home park where eight-year-old Sandra Cantu lived claimed Friday she had a large, dark suitcase stolen the day the young girl disappeared.

Melissa Huckaby, 28-year-old, told the Tracy Press and sources told KTVU that someone stole her waterproof, charcoal-trimmed Eddie Bauer suitcase from the park two weeks ago. She said she had inadvertently left the suitcase in her driveway and it was taken from there.

She had filled with items to decorate a classroom where she teaches Sunday school at her grandfather’s church, but forgot her keys and cell phone. Huckaby went into the home to retrieve them and then drove off without the bag.

Cantu’s body was found Monday stuffed in a large, dark colored suitcase submerged in a Tracy irrigation pond.

“It’s not my grandfather’s,” Huckaby told the paper of the missing suitcase. “It’s mine and someone took it.”

At an afternnon news conference, Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said he did not have any information about the kind of suitcase in which the girl's body was found.

She also admitted that Cantu had come over to her mobile home the day the girl disappeared to play with Huckaby’s daughter. Huckaby said she told Cantu that her daughter had to clean her room and the little girl left to go to another unnamed friend’s home.

Huckaby said police had interviewed her at the hospital earlier this week, but at Friday's press conference Sheneman would not confirm that the woman had been interviewed. She spent several days in the intensive care unit being treated for what she said was “internal bleeding.”

Local investigators and FBI technicians had seized Huckaby’s Kia SUV earlier in the week and meticulously searched it. Evidence teams had also searched the grounds of the church where her grandfather, Lane Lawless, is the pastor.

EVIDENCE: WHAT DO THE TRACY POLICE KNOW?
http://www.ktvu.com/news/19144730/detail.html

SANDRA CANTU: FAMILY GRIEVES FOR THEIR BEAUTIFUL CHILD

Last time that Sandra Cantu was seen alive!

Sandra Cantu's Family Crushed By Death as Police Continue to Hunt Her Killer
Local News Reports Indicate Sandra's Mother Hospitalized After Girl's Body Found
By SARAH NETTER and LAURA MARQUEZ / April 9, 2009

The family of the 8-year-old California girl whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase this week is "holding up as best they can," according to the girl's aunt, while police continue their intensive search for the killer.

"We want to find out what happened to our little girl," Sandra Cantu's aunt, Angie Chavez, told "Good Morning America" today. "She did have a full life ahead of her. She was full of life."

The death of Maria Chavez's youngest child has been extraordinarily devastating for her and the entire family, Chavez said. The family has taken some comfort in the vast swath of candles, balloons, stuffed animals and handwritten notes the community has left in support outside the Tracy, Calif., mobile home park where the family lived.

The San Jose Mercury News reported yesterday that both the girl's mother and grandmother had to be hospitalized after learning her body had been found.

She was going to visit a friend. Help find the killer? http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7296312&page=1

TRACY, CA: SANDRA CANTU, 8, BODY FOUND IN SUITCASE IN POND

TODAY / Sandra Cantu, 8, failed to return home after visiting a friend’s house

Police tape surrounds Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2009, near the home of Sandra Cantu. The body of Cantu, 8, was discovered inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond on Monday, April 6, 2009 after she was last seen at home on March 27, 2009.(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Police to search church in slaying of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu
Tuesday, April 2, 2009 / CNN

(CNN) -- Police said they are pursuing leads in the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found Monday stuffed into a suitcase in a dairy-farm pond near her Tracy, California, home.

We are heading in a direction," Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told reporters. "To comment on that would compromise the investigation, and I can't do that."

A search warrant was executed at the Tracy mobile home park where the girl lived, and a related search was to be conducted Tuesday at a nearby church, he said.

He implied more than one person may have been involved in the death of Sandra, who had been missing since March 27.

"Investigators are looking at additional information they received since yesterday and, hopefully, that will lead us to Sandra's killers," he said.

Asked if his use of the plural meant police were looking for more than one person, he responded, "We have no specific suspects, ma'am."

Sheneman also implied the killer likely was familiar with the location where the body was found.

He said he himself was unfamiliar with the location where the girl's body was found, despite having lived in the community for nearly 12 years.

(snip)

The autopsy was being conducted Tuesday, but it was not clear when the report would be available. "It's going to be some time before we hear from the coroner," Sheneman said. "I can't tell you when that's going to be."

More than 10 search warrants have been executed as part of the investigation and "a lot" of evidence has been recovered, Sheneman said.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEN WHO WANT TO MURDER CHILDREN?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/07/california.missing.girl.dead/index.html

GRAHAM, WA: WIFE LEAVES, DAD MURDERS 5 KIDS

The home where the bodies of five children were discovered on Saturday is shown Sunday, April 5, 2009, at a trailer park near near Graham, Wash. Pierce County Sheriff's officials said they believe the children's father killed the children before committing suicide. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

AP / April 4, 2009 / A home is ringed with police tape at trailer park near near Graham, Washington

A message is shown in a notebook at a memorial Sunday, April 5, 2009, in front of a home where five children were discovered killed on Saturday, at a trailer park near near Graham, Wash. Pierce County Sheriff's officials said they believe the children's father killed the children before committing suicide. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Police Believe Man Killed 5 Kids Due to Marital Dispute
Sunday, April 05, 2009 /ASSOCIATED PRESS

GRAHAM, Wash. — Investigators believe a man fatally shot his five children in their home and killed himself after he found out his wife was leaving him for another man, a sheriff's spokesman said Sunday.

The bodies of James Harrison's children were found Saturday in the family's mobile home in Graham, about 15 southeast of Tacoma. Harrison had been found earlier in the day, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot, behind the wheel of his car in Auburn, about 18 miles north of Graham.

Authorities haven't released the family's name, but relatives have identified them as the Harrisons.

The man and his 16-year-old daughter had found his wife with another man at a store in Auburn on Friday night, Pierce County Sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer told The News Tribune of Tacoma.

Ryan Peden, the daughter's classmate, had said she told him Friday night that her parents had gotten into a fight and her mother had left. The father followed the mother and tried to get her to return, said Peden.

Troyer said the woman told her husband she was not going home and that she was leaving him for the man with her at the store.

"He was devastated," Troyer said.

Investigators believe the father later killed his children and returned to the area near the store looking for his wife. His body was found near the store, Troyer said. He left no suicide note.

Troyer did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press, but sent an e-mail confirming his account to The News Tribune.

Four of the children were shot in their beds and the fifth was shot in the bathroom, Pierce County deputies said. Auburn Police Sgt. Scott Near said their father had apparently killed himself with a rifle.

SADNESS IN A SMALL TOWN...WHY DOES A FATHER KILL HIS CHILDREN?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512581,00.html

FORT LEWIS: GIRL, 16, DIES FROM DRUGS IN ARMY BARRACKS

FORT LEWIS ARMY BASE, SOUTH OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON

16-year-old Leah King was found dead at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 15 inside a barracks at Fort Lewis.

Army files charges against soldier in death of teen at Fort Lewis
March 10,2009
By Jennifer Sullivan / Seattle Times staff reporter

FORT LEWIS, Pierce County — The Army has filed charges against a soldier in connection with the death last month of a 16-year-old girl in a Fort Lewis barracks.

Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt, 19, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Leah King. He was also charged with wrongful use and distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to use controlled substances.

Army officials said during a news conference on the base this morning that Bennitt is suspected of selling drugs on the base. They said Bennitt had been dating King for about a month before her death.

Army officials said King died after taking Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety and anti-depression drug marketed as Xanax, and Oxymorphone, a pain reliever similar to morphine. Investigators believe the pills were crushed into a powder then inhaled through a rolled-up dollar bill, said Col. John Robinson.

Bennitt, from Rolling Prairie, Ind., is a heavy construction equipment operator assigned to the 864th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade on Fort Lewis.

King, 16, was found dead at 3:30 a.m. Feb. 15 inside a barracks at Fort Lewis, where she had gone to see Bennitt. Her 16-year-old friend was found unconscious and spent four days at Madigan Army Medical Center before being released to her mother.

AN UNNECESSARY DEATH...READ MORE
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008836230_webfortlewisdeath10m.html