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UPDATE: MISSING - Sandra Cantu body found - container found near Sugar Cut slough contained young girl Posted: 07 Apr 2009 01:00 AM PDT Sandra Cantu dead - body found in pond Sandra Cantu 8 years young - Rest in peace Police confirmed Monday night that the body of a missing Tracy girl was found inside a large black suitcase submerged in a farm pond just two miles from where the child was last seen 11 days ago Update: Hunt for the killer - Three men in the park have so far been tied to the investigation. Frank Wohler is a 60-year-old martial arts instructor who said he kissed Sandra on the lips at the park's swimming pool two years ago, Mr. Wohler Lives in Sandra's neighborhood and has admitted she helped him with his gardening and admitted to kissing her on the lips at the community swimming pool 2 years ago. Police have searched his home and office, removing CDs containing pictures, a cell phone, and other items he would not identify He has been interviewed by police. Christian Sinclair, 49, was arrested March 30 for interfering with police as they searched his home. Friday, David Slayter, 44, Married with one child a son and wife Debra previously seen at the vigils openly crying, got in a car with police for an interview as they searched his home and towed his two vehicles, Slayter, whose home and cars were searched on Friday admitted to police that missing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu had frequently visited him inside his home, though police made a point to say he was neither detained nor arrested. Police searched a new home tonight. Update: 11:45 - agents pulled up to search the Clover Road Baptist Church Missionary Independent at 1100 W. Clover Road. Update: 10:20 p.m - 16 Tracy police and FBI vehicles, including a crime lab, were seen entering the mobile home park, in preparation to serve search warrants at an undisclosed location inside. A caravan of FBI agents pulled into the mobile home park around 10:20 p.m. tonight, though no announcements of an arrest or a new search was made by press time. The search brings to five the number of homes that have been searched in the mobile home park, and at least four cars have been towed from there since search warrants were first obtained March 30, police said. Daniel Cantu, left, speaks with Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman near as a container is examined along a rural road off Tracy Boulevard in Tracy, Calif Update: 10:15 04-06-09 - Tonight after Tracy Police announced Body discovery a large contingent of law enforcement personnel has re-converged on the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park. Many citizens have gathered at the entrance which is blocked by City of Tracy police department. Residents are not being allowed to enter or leave. TRACY - 04-06-09 9:00 PM - Authorities found the remains of a missing Northern California girl Monday in a suitcase a few miles from where she was last seen. Sandra Cantu's body was discovered inside the suitcase in an irrigation pond Monday, Tracy Police Chief Janet Thiessen said at an evening news conference. Thiessen said Sandra, 8, was wearing the same clothes she was last seen in on March 27 - a pink "Hello Kitty" T-shirt and black leggings. She said authorities plan to conduct an autopsy on the body to determine the cause of death. "Our heartfelt sympathies go to Sandra's family and friends," she said. "We will determine the person or persons responsible for this reprehensible act, and we will bring them to justice." A was found earlier today at the bottom of a pond being routinely drained on a farm at the end of Bacchetti Road. UPDATE: San Joaquin County Sheriff, Tracy police, FBI, Coroner and media at scene of found container. ( Possibly black Garment bag or suitcase, with a red ribbon around it.) Evidence collection and mapping in progress, Police will open container in a few hours at a undisclosed location. Google Map of location - Link View Larger Map UPDATE: News conference at 3:40 PM ----------------------- Police investigating the disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu are examining a container found by a dairy farmworker in a north Tracy irrigation pond after it was drained. Investigators are examining a sealed container farm workers found today in an irrigation ditch north of Tracy to see if it has any connection to the March 27 disappearance of a Tracy girl. The black container is suspicious because it wasn't in the ditch when the dairy farm off of Bacchetti and Whitehall roads filled it up, according to San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department spokesman Dep. Les Garcia. Eight-year-old Sandra went missing from her mobile home park 10 days ago off of West Clover Road slightly more than 2 miles south of the dairy. A desperate search for the girl by 18 agencies including the FBI has turned up no leads strong enough to lead police to her whereabouts. The container might shed some light on Sandra's mysterious disappearance, said Tracy police spokesman Sgt. Tony Sheneman. He declined to say how big the container is. Workers found it when they were draining the irrigation ditch to water some fields, Sheneman said. "This is the first time we've found something like this," Sheneman told reporters this afternoon shortly before FBI crews showed up. He said it might take hours to find out if the container has any connection to Sandra, but that it's unusual to find a container in an irrigation pond. Ann Silva, who owns the Bacchetti and Silva Dairy Farm where the container was found, said she doesn't know anything about the investigation being conducted on her property. Police won't let her on her farm on the banks of a slough called Sugar Cut, which drains into Old River. Police plan to hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. to share updates about the case. Source: Tracy Press - Link

USFA: Outdoor Fires Topical Report Posted: 06 Apr 2009 03:05 PM PDT USFA Releases Outdoor Fires Topical Report WASHINGTON D.C. - The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has issued a special report examining the causes and characteristics of outdoor fires. The report, Outdoor Fires, was developed by the National Fire Data Center, part of the USFA. This report is based on 2004 to 2006 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The report, part of the USFA's Topical Fire Report Series, shows an estimated 655,200 outdoor fires occur annually in the U.S. resulting in 50 civilian deaths, 875 civilian injuries, and $154 million in property loss. According to the report, outdoor fires peak in March, April, and July and account for 41 percent of all fires in the U.S. Together, trash or rubbish fires (47 percent) and natural vegetation fires (44 percent) account for 91 percent of outdoor fires. In 73 percent of outdoor fires, organic materials such as crops, grass, and trees are the items first ignited. Fires that are started unintentionally are the leading cause of outdoor fires. The short topical reports are designed to explore facets of the U.S. fire problem as depicted through data collected in NFIRS. Each topical report briefly addresses the nature of the specific fire or fire-related topic, highlights important findings from the data, and may suggest other resources to consider for further information. Also included are recent examples of fire incidents that demonstrate some of the issues addressed in the report or that put the report topic in context. A copy of the report can be downloaded at: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/reports/index.shtm

SFFD: SAR - JOY - Technical Recue - 7 People off cliff Posted: 06 Apr 2009 03:00 PM PDT Dog On SF Cliff Leads To Rescue Of 7 People SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco firefighters rescued four children, three adults and a dog from a cliff in the Bayview Heights area Sunday night after the families got stuck while following the dog down steep terrain, a fire lieutenant said. First, three of the children followed the dog down the cliff near Jamestown Avenue and Harney Way around 7:30 p.m., but they got stuck about 300 feet up from the bottom, fire Lt. Ken Smith said. Then two mothers followed them to help, but also got stuck, and a dad and a 15-year-old boy also followed and got stuck. They called the fire department around 8:30 p.m., which dispatched a cliff rescue team, set up a ladder that reached higher than the families and hooked a rope to lower them one-by-one, Smith said. Firefighters had rescued all of them safely by 10:30 p.m. None of them were injured and "it was hugs all around," he said. Source: CBS -Link

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