By now, everyone should know that Melissa Huckaby is not Melissa Huckaby.

Or, more accurately, that Melissa Suzanne Huckaby of Manteca is not Melissa Chantel Huckaby of Tracy.

They might share the same first and last names, they might both be 28, they might both be Sunday school teachers and they might both be single mothers with 5-year-old daughters. Only one, however, is accused of the kidnap, rape and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

But while Melissa Chantel Huckaby of Tracy sits behind bars in San Joaquin County Jail, Melissa Suzanne Huckaby of Manteca has endured the dirty looks — and threats — of confused citizens irate at what the “other” Huckaby is accused of doing. Melissa Suzanne evidently collected enough abuse from ill-informed Web surfers that she shut down her MySpace account.

For the record, the two Huckabys have been properly and adequately separated by crack Tracy Press reporter Jennifer Wadsworth (see Page 26) and others in stories on TV, online and in print.

Before that, confusion was common.

News crews, including those of national cable personalities Geraldo and Nancy Grace, approached Melissa Suzanne for interviews and information. The Press checked Tracy Unified School District records and — for a brief period before it was corrected — reported online that Melissa Chantel Huckaby graduated from West High, while it was Melissa Suzanne who was once a member of the Wolf Pack and graduated as a Tracy High Bulldog.

Some outlets even ran Melissa Suzanne’s picture in the place of Chantel’s in their stories, according to Melissa Suzanne’s mother.

The “Twilight Zone” mix-up demands an answer to the question: What steps do media outlets take to prevent cases of mistaken identity, especially with an inflammatory subject?

According to Kelly McBride, co-leader of ethics fellows at the beacon-for-journalism Poynter Institute, it’s by providing as much information as possible.

“Precision is really important,” she told me Thursday.

That means checking and providing histories, middle names, even addresses before making the mad rush to “break” news.

In this case, confusion might have happened regardless of the information provided, given the freakish but shallow parallels between the two Huckabys. McBride was surprised, if not stunned, when I recounted the list of similarities that usually would help even a casual observer differentiate between two people.

If it was a case of two Joe Smiths, we might chalk it up solely to carelessness. But the Huckaby confusion pushes the limits of believability.

“I know it happens,” McBride said, “but it’s incredibly rare because of all these other discriminating factors.”

Luckily, news organizations worthy of public attention probe deeper than the casual MySpace observer. Instead of lifting from a public Web site a picture of someone who happens to share the name of an accused killer and calling it a day — as it appears the mistaken news outlets did — reputable outlets double-check the obvious and correct mistakes when they happen.

“It’s almost a cautionary tale that goes back to Reporting 101,” McBride said. “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

That’s why Melissa Suzanne Huckaby’s story has been told and retold, even though it should be obvious that she is not the woman sitting in the county cooler. Because a good news organization doesn’t take anything for granted.

Hitting the links...

For the second time in just over a year, I’m lucky enough to leave the country for a weeklong trip to Scotland.

Hopefully, this year’s jaunt goes better than the last, in which British Airways’ Terminal 5 aimlessly shuttled my father and me like addled street urchins and sent our luggage on a scenic tour of God-knows-where.

But BA’s make-good offer of discounted travel means there will be no Second Thoughts next week, unless I’m inspired to write from the 19th hole of St. Andrews. Somehow, I doubt that is going to happen.

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be back in print May 2, and the blog will be back up April 27.

Have a great week.

• Jon Mendelson is an award-winning columnist for the Tracy Press. Fill his inbox while he’s away by writing to jmendelson@tracypress.com.