Police search church for clues

TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Police on Tuesday searched a local church and questioned neighbors of an 8-year-old girl whose body was stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a pond a few miles from this quiet, working-class community.

The investigation into the death of Sandra Cantu has touched on everyone who lives in the neighborhood, including a pastor who became a focus Tuesday. Investigators cordoned off Pastor Lane Lawless’ home and Clover Road Baptist Church for a search after questioning him for three hours the night before.

Police have not named any suspects in the case and Sgt. Tony Sheneman insisted Tuesday that Lawless “is not at the center of the investigation and never was.” He added that he was dismayed to hear media reports that the pastor was a main suspect.

“He has been interviewed, as have hundreds of people,” Sheneman said. “Everyone that we speak to could be considered a person of interest. We have no specific person that we are looking at at this time.”

Connie Lawless said they were being interviewed because they live down the street from the victim, Sandra Cantu, and their great- granddaughter played with her.

Sandra’s body was discovered a few miles from her Tracy home Monday when farmworkers draining a pond to water nearby fields found the suitcase. She was last seen alive March 27, skipping down the street near the mobile home park where she lived.

An autopsy was planned for Tuesday. The gruesome discovery ended a search that included hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials, drew more than 1,000 tips and compelled people to put up posters of the girl on storefronts, car windows and fire hydrants all over town.

At a news conference Tuesday morning across the street from Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park and just steps away from a makeshift memorial for Sandra, Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said the church had been cordoned off and would be searched later in the day. He said investigators had interviewed the church’s pastor Monday but didn’t say why police were interested in the church.

Sheneman also said police searched a location at the park Monday night, but wouldn’t give any details.

Sheneman said police had interviewed everyone at the mobile home park before Sandra’s body was found. He said police were pursuing many leads, and no one had been detained or arrested.

Sandra was found wearing the same clothes she had on when she was last seen: a pink “Hello Kitty” T-shirt and black leggings, Tracy police Chief Janet Thiessen said Monday.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go to Sandra’s family and friends,” Thiessen said. “We will determine the person or persons responsible for this reprehensible act, and we will bring them to justice.”

On Tuesday, mourners left stuffed animals, cards and other trinkets at a makeshift memorial outside the mobile home park, which resembles an apartment complex, complete with a swimming pool.

Wendy Rios, 29, and her sister-in-law Sabrina Cason, 31, brought their two young daughters to drop off a bouquet of purple lilies.

“It’s tragic. How could you do that to a little girl,” said Rios, as her teary-eyed 8-year-old daughter, Monica, held onto her.

Cason said she had a hard time explaining what happened to Sandra to her three children.

“This has shaken our little town up,” Cason said as she held her 5-year-old daughter, Alyssa. “We’re saddened. For her to be so close to home and this to happen. I think we all had a lot of hope that she would come home safely.”

A spokeswoman for the Tracy Unified School District said extra psychologists and counselors were on hand Tuesday at schools throughout the district, including Jacobson Elementary, where Sandra was a second-grader. The district sent a letter to students’ families with advice to parents on how to talk about Sandra’s death and also share safety tips with their children.