Sandra Cantu
Melissa Arrested, Disbelief
On April 10, Melissa Huckaby was arrested, sending the tight-knit community into shock. No one could make sense of the arrest. Even a police spokesperson said at a news conference that he "couldn't begin to theorize" the motive. Did a Sunday school teacher with no history of violence, who was a mother herself, really rape and kill this little girl in the church and pack her in a rolling suitcase before driving in her own car, a purple KIA, to dump the body in that pond?
Huckaby's own relatives were dumbfounded. Her uncle Brett Lawless told CBS's Sacramento affiliate, "The allegations are so far outside what I know about my niece. Of course, there are doubts in my mind. But we understand the police doing their jobs might have some probable cause."