Desperate search continues for kidnapped California girl
LOS ANGELES -- Dozens of people fanned out Saturday to continue looking for a 15-year-old California girl who was abducted by a 19-year-old man, later shot dead by police.
Search teams are focusing on an area near the Northern California town of Jenner. It's about 65 miles from where a witness saw Pearl Pinson abducted at gunpoint from a pedestrian bridge near her home in the Bay Area community of Vallejo on Wednesday morning.
"She was forced into that car," Rose Pinson said through tears Friday, desperate to find her younger sister.
"Pearl, you need to come home," she said. "Find a way home, I know you can!"
Investigators say Pearl's kidnapper was Fernando Castro, who was considered an acquaintance. Castro was seen driving south after the abduction, but Pearl was not with him.
Police caught up with Castro 300 miles away on Thursday near Santa Barbara. In a hail of bullets, police and Castro exchanged fire. Castro was killed -- which is big a concern for Pearl's sister.
"I'm upset because we needed him," Rose Pinson told CBS News. "He was our main source."
But there is still hope, and authorities have other leads, according to Solano County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Christine Castillo.
"Our number one priority is bringing Pearl home safely to her family, and we do believe that is possible," Castillo said.
