( CNN ) -- Nothing about Melissa Huckaby , a Sunday school teacher at her grandfather 's California church , would indicate she 's capable of killing her daughter 's 8-year-old friend as police allege , relatives say . Melissa Huckaby faces charges of kidnapping and murder in the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu . Huckaby , expected to be arraigned Tuesday in the death of Sandra Cantu , is a wonderful mother who is at ease with other children , relatives say . Cantu 's body was found last week in a suitcase submerged in a pond . But they acknowledge her life was less than tranquil before moving into her grandparents ' Tracy , California , home last year . They say she 's had difficulties dealing with a divorce , and she 's had legal problems , including bankruptcy and a theft conviction . `` She is a good , church-going girl , but she has had her challenges , '' California resident Cynthia Browning , Huckaby 's great-aunt , told the San Francisco Chronicle . Huckaby , 28 , was arrested on charges of murder and kidnapping late Friday , four days after the suitcase with Cantu 's body was found at a dairy farm 's pond in Tracy , not far from the church run by Huckaby 's grandfather . Cantu was last seen alive March 27 in the Tracy mobile home park where she lived . It 's the same park where Huckaby lives with her 5-year-old daughter and grandparents . The two children were close friends and played frequently , Tracy police said . Investigators believe the suitcase is Huckaby 's and that she lied about it being missing , police said . Police Sgt . Tony Sheneman told reporters over the weekend that he did n't know the motive in the slaying , and he declined to say whether Huckaby confessed but said `` she revealed enough information that we had probable cause to arrest her . '' On Sunday , Huckaby 's relatives told reporters in Tracy they were shocked by the allegations against her . `` The information we 've been given regarding the charges against [ her ] are completely out of character for her , '' said one man , who identified himself only as a relative . Another relative , also declining to give her name , said Huckaby `` is a fantastic mother , very loving . '' Huckaby , who grew up in Orange County , California , moved in with her grandparents about eight months ago , according to the Contra Costa Times . She did so in part so that she 'd have more time `` to take better care of her daughter , who ... gets sick a lot , '' Browning told the Chronicle . Huckaby divorced a few years ago and has had a hard time coping , her father , Brian Lawless of Orange County , told the Chronicle . She has fought depression , her relatives said , according to the newspaper . She also has faced legal difficulties . Citing court records , the Tracy Press reported she pleaded no contest January 9 to a felony charge of second-degree commercial burglary and a misdemeanor charge of property theft . A criminal complaint says she was jailed in Los Angeles County on a property theft conviction in 2006 and that she tried to steal from a store in November 2008 . According to the complaint , she was on probation in San Joaquin County and was due back in court Friday . And she filed for bankruptcy in 2003 , reporting credit card and medical debt , according to CNN affiliate KCRA-TV . Relatives said her only current job was the Sunday school teaching , according to the Chronicle . The allegations stunned a friend of Huckaby 's from high school , Emily Glyer Fontes , according to the Orange County Register . Fontes said she recalled that Huckaby `` was almost like a mother '' to a baby girl that Huckaby 's parents adopted while she was in high school . `` That 's why this is so overwhelming to me , '' Fontes , who said she and Huckaby were on the school 's dance team , told the Register . `` She was so wonderful with kids -- absolutely amazing . I feel so completely confused and so devastated about this . Everything I knew has been turned upside down . '' Police have not said how Cantu died . The day she was last seen , she came home from school , kissed her mother and left to play with a friend who lives nearby , a family spokeswoman has said . Before her arrest , Huckaby told the Tracy Press that Cantu came by her home to see whether she could play with Huckaby 's daughter , but Huckaby would not let her daughter play because she wanted her daughter to pick up her toys . Cantu left for another friend 's house , Huckaby told the newspaper . Huckaby also told the Tracy Press that she owned the suitcase in which the child 's body was found , but said she reported it missing the day before the body 's discovery . She said it disappeared about the same time the child did . Sheneman told reporters after Huckaby 's arrest that `` inconsistencies '' between that interview and statements Huckaby had made to police were one reason police re-interviewed her Friday night .
Melissa Huckaby faces murder charges in death of Sandra Cantu , 8 . Huckaby , a Sunday school teacher , was arrested last week . Huckaby had difficulty dealing with divorce , relatives say . Relatives say allegations are `` completely out of character '' for her .