Investigators are searching for new leads that will help them find a Vallejo girl who was kidnapped on her way to school 10 years ago.
Pearl Pinson, 15, was kidnapped May 25, 2016, in Vallejo and has never been seen since. A witness reported seeing a male dragging Pinson, who was bleeding and screaming for help, on an Interstate 780 over-crossing in Vallejo around 7 a.m.
The suspect was identified as Fernando Castro, 19, and was found driving south on U.S. Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo County in a gold Saturn. Local officers tried to pull him over, but he fled and officers pursued until he eventually exited in Santa Barbara County.
He began shooting at law enforcement officers and was shot and killed when officers returned fire.
“Unfortunately, he may have taken the secret of what happened to Pearl with him to his grave,” the Solano County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Monday.
Information from Castro’s cellphone and a search of the Saturn led investigators to look for Pearl in the Jenner area of Sonoma County but she was not located. Search and rescue crews also scoured the Glen Cove area in Vallejo, an open field and stream near the abduction site at the I-780 pedestrian over-crossing in Vallejo and state Highway 37 between Vallejo and Sonoma County, including Skaggs Island.
Anyone who has information that help find Pearl is asked to contact the Solano County Sheriff’s Office tip line at ( 707) 784-1963. All tips can remain anonymous.