Girl's Murder Shakes Calif. Town

Near Sandra Cantu's home, flowers and toys keep arriving even as family members are picking things up … and passing them on.

"They're going to be donated to the children's hospital," said a woman outside the home.

As CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports, Sandra's home remains a magnet for those trying to come to terms with her brutal murder.

"It's just um something that's hit very hard," said neighbor Anna Carreiro. "And she (looking at little girl) has a lot of questions of why someone would do that."

While parts of the investigation have been public, like the search of a local church, police are releasing few details.

"I think it's scary that this person is still out there and that's what I told my daughters on the way to school the next day," said Tracy, Calif. resident Monica Kahoonei.

When Sandra was first reported missing, police did not issue an Amber Alert because they had no vehicle description.

"If I would have heard an amber alert," said neighbor Karen Farrante. "I am thinking I would have gone on the internet to see what this child looks like because this was the area she was missing from."

What people in Tracy want most now is to find her killer.

"I just wish they caught him," said Gabriela Stone. "I wish they could get him. Whoever did it, they got to get him."

Tracy, Calif., police Sgt. Tony Sheneman appeared on The Early Show live via satellite with an update on the investigation into Sandra Cantu's murder. He also answered some questions posed by co-anchor Harry Smith.

Sheneman said the investigation was headed in the right direction. He noted that hundreds of people have been interviewed over the last two weeks and he believes that authorities are focusing in the right area.

Smith asked Sheneman to address some controversy that has arisen around Tracy about whether or not an Amber Alert should have been enacted after Sandra went missing.

"The requirements for an Amber Alert state that we have to have some specific identifiable means of transportation to be able to put up on the highway," Sheneman said. "The description of an Amber Alert would have read that we were looking for a young girl that was 4 feet tall, and 45 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. And that would have been a lot of people in the state of California."

For the full interview, click the Play button below.