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The day after he was interviewed for two hours by police, the father of missing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, Daniel Cantu, said today that he hasn’t seen his daughter in a year.

“Did I take my daughter? No,” Cantu said. “But I wish I did. I wish I had my daughter. At least I’d know she’s warm … I’d know that she’s fed … I’d know that she’s okay.”

Cantu, 37, is a Tracy native who attended Tracy High School has lived in Mexicali, Mexico, for the past year. He works as a saw operator for the National Beef Packing Company in Brawley, about two hours east of San Diego. The company declined to talk about Cantu.

Cantu was in town over the weekend, left, and said he has been in Tracy since Tuesday. Tracy police questioned him Wednesday at the police department, where a friend dropped him off.

Sandra has been missing from her home at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park since Friday afternoon.

Cantu said the last time he saw Sandra was last year, when he lived in Stockton.

Something happened between Cantu and Sandra’s mother, Maria Chavez, a long time ago, he said, and the relationship didn’t work out, and he had to continue with his life.

Cantu admitted he has made some bad choices in his life, and he has a record that reveals drug violations, but is now a changed man, he said. His father, Pablo Cantu, said he recognizes that, too.

“We all live a life and make mistakes,” Pablo said. “He’s not a little kid. He’s smarter than that.”

Cantu pointed to a highlighted passage — Matthew 6:34 — from his well-used Bible that he said best expressed what he was thinking. The passage talks about not worrying about tomorrow and living only for today.

“I’m trusting in the Lord,” Cantu said. “I’ve got to. If I would’ve put my trust in man, look what happens.”