Apr 16, 2009 2:08 pm US/Pacific
Thousands Attend Funeral For Murdered Tracy Girl
TRACY, Calif. (AP) ―
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Sandra Cantu's body was found stuffed inside a suitcase last week. Authorities believe she was killed by a Sunday school teacher.
CBS
Thousands of people attended a memorial service Thursday for an 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found stuffed inside a suitcase in a pond last week, 10 days after she disappeared from the mobile home park where she lived.
About 2,600 mourners were expected to fill a high school gymnasium to pay tribute to Sandra Cantu, who was allegedly killed by a Sunday school teacher who was the mother of Sandra's playmate.
Another 500 people were expected at an overflow room with video of the service and audio will also be piped to loudspeakers at the West High School football field, which seats 7,000 people.
State Attonrey General Jerry Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer, are expected to speak at the service.
Cantu's gruesome death has shocked and terrified residents in Tracy.
Several dozen people, including family, friends and some police officers who've worked on the case, gathered Wednesday for a private funeral for Sandra. A horse-drawn carriage then carried the casket to the Tracy Mausoleum.
Sandra's burial came a day after her alleged killer, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, was arraigned on a murder charge with the special circumstances of kidnapping and sexual assault. The woman lived down the street from the Cantu family and is the mother of one of Sandra's playmates.
Police have not said how, where or why Huckaby may have killed the little girl, whose body was found April 6 stuffed in a suitcase that was pulled from an irrigation pond about two miles from home.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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