Police search huge swath of California, hoping missing teen is alive

VALLEJO, Calif. -- Authorities on Friday expanded their frantic search across hundreds of miles of California for a missing girl they still hope to find alive days after the bleeding teenager was dragged away by an armed man later killed in a gunbattle with police.

Pearl Pinson, 15, could be anywhere along the hundreds of miles that Fernando Castro, 19, traveled throughout the state after the high school freshman was abducted Wednesday as she walked to school.

"This case spans from Northern to Southern California," Solano County Sheriff spokeswoman Christine Castillo said.

A witness saw Castro armed with a gun and pulling a screaming Pinson across a freeway overpass in Vallejo, about 25 miles east of San Francisco. The witness reported hearing a gunshot while running for help. Responding deputies found blood on the ground, Castillo said, according to CBS SF Bay Area.

Surveillance cameras captured images of Castro's car traveling Thursday morning in Marin County, about 25 miles from where Pinson was taken and 300 miles south of where he shot and killed hours later. The gold Saturn sedan was spotted on a freeway near the San Francisco Bay, and authorities are searching the water's edge.

Pearl is described as a girl with green hair who was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black leggings and had a black and turquoise backpack, according to the station.

"We continue our search, and we hope to find her alive," Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said.

Authorities said the two teens knew each other but emphasized that they believe Pinson was taken unwillingly. Rose Pinson, the missing girl's older sister, said she had heard Castro's name but had never met him and described him as an acquaintance, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald.

"Everyone is looking for Pearl. We aren't doing so good," Rose Pinson said at a vigil Thursday. "She's always happy, she loves to laugh, loves to ride her long skateboard."

Pinson's cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken Wednesday. A day later and hundreds of miles away, Southern California sheriff's deputies spotted and pursued Castro's car.

Castro abandoned the sedan about 45 miles north of Santa Barbara and shot at deputies as he ran into a mobile home park, the sheriff said. He briefly barricaded himself there, but a woman inside was able to escape safely.

He stole a gray pickup truck from the house and opened fire at deputies again before they shot and killed him, authorities said.

Sheriff's officials said yesterday that while investigators were processing the scene of the crime, the focus of the investigation was now on finding Pearl.

Sheriff Thomas Ferrera said investigators on Wednesday initially were told by witnesses that the suspect fled on foot.

"It was much later in the day that we determined a car was involved," Ferrera said. "That was our delay."

Castillo said the search for Pearl had been complicated by her alleged abductor's death.

"We can't interview him and find out more," she said, according to the station.

Castillo said there is a "team of dedicated investigators that are working around the clock to bring Pearl home safely."

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call (707) 784-1963. Someone with urgent information about her whereabouts is urged to call 911 or their local law enforcement agency.