In March of 2009, a California girl headed out of her house to play with friends in her neighborhood, and was captured on surveillance footage skipping down the street. When she failed to return home for dinner, her family reported her missing. As the days ticked by with no sign of her, the FBI created a profile of their suspect. But this profile would prove to be completely incorrect, and the real suspect would stun the police, the community, and anyone who was following the case. This is the story of Sandra Cantu.

BONUS EPISODES

Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398

Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast

CASE SOURCES

1. Searching for Sandra: https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Sandra-Story-Behind-Disappearance-ebook/dp/B00B156DXG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

2. Tracy Press: https://www.ttownmedia.com/tracy_press/archives/huckaby-sentenced-speaks-about-murder/article_0fc915dd-bbd2-5f85-9ff5-b1e80b5b28f7.html

3. The Sacramento Bee: https://www.newspapers.com/image/648581959/

4. NBC: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/new-documents-give-gruesome-details-on-cantus-death/2091727/

5. See No Evil: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22055174/

6. The Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/05/24/huckabys-high-school-friend-saw-signs-of-trouble-in-accused-killer-a-decade-ago/

7. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35610698/sandra_renee-cantu

8. Tracy Press: https://www.ttownmedia.com/tracy_press/archives/father-gets-custody-of-melissa-huckabys-daughter/article_a26eb2d4-8ba4-5b1c-8157-4e0dee9db41b.html

9. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/US/Media/melissa-huckaby-confessed-murderer-year-girl-sentenced-life/story?id=10910285

10. The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/melissa-huckaby-why-did-she-murder-sandra-cantu

11. People: https://people.com/crime/inside-story-clues-to-why-melissa-huckaby-murdered-an-8-year-old-girl/

12. CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/22/california.slain.girl/index.html

13. The People of CA v. Melissa Huckaby: https://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/22/Amended.complaint.pdf

14. The Interrogation Room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_GOOCa43zM

15. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30116232

16. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7356264&page=1

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.