Katharina Buczek
“She ended up getting kidnapped. She was thrown in the trunk,” Rose recalled.
According to Solano County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Sean Mattson, the lead detective on Pearl’s case, the fifteen-year-old was abducted at about 6:42 a.m. on Benicia Road near Home Acres Avenue. Several witnesses reportedly watched as Pearl struggled against the suspect and attempted to intervene near “a pedestrian bridge over the cross of I-780.”
The witnesses claimed that Pearl had blood on her face, and when they attempted to intervene, the suspect pointed a gun toward them. So, unfortunately, their attempts were unsuccessful.
The Vallejo community was immediately alerted of Pearl’s abduction via an Amber Alert, and both blood and Pearl’s cell phone were found at the scene.
“We were all in shock and confused. We went looking for her. We went out making posters,” Rose said. Community members also joined the Pinson family in their search.
Then, the following day on May 26, investigators got a lead. The same four-door Saturn sedan that witnesses had watched Pearl get thrown into was seen driving around the Los Alamos, California, area.
Facebook; pictured above is another photo of Pearl
So, police were dispatched to the scene and confronted the suspect in an attempt to detain him. However, the suspect ultimately shot at police, and they were forced to return fire– killing him.
The deceased suspect was later identified as Fernando Castro– who had a “minor criminal history” and no known connection with Pearl, according to Sergeant Mattson.
But Castro is still the only known suspect in Pearl’s case at this time. And with Castro dead and Pearl nowhere to be found, her case has remained open and unsolved.