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The Latest: Authorities hope to find abducted girl alive

Original Publication Date May 26, 2016 - 4:40 PM

SOLVANG, Calif. - The Latest on an abduction of a teen girl seen dragged on a Northern California overpass (all times local):

9:20 p.m.

Authorities say they're still searching for a missing Northern California girl after a young man suspected of abducting her was killed in a shootout with deputies.

In a brief news conference several hours after the shootout Thursday, Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said the search was continuing for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson with hopes of finding her alive.

Ferrara confirmed that the man killed in the shootout was 19-year-old Fernando Castro, the suspect in her abduction. Authorities had already said it was most likely Castro who was killed.

The search is set to continue through the night with an expanded search resuming Friday morning.

Solano County authorities have been frantically searching for Pinson since a witness reportedly heard a girl screaming for help as a man dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo on Wednesday.

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7:15 p.m.

A law enforcement official says authorities are hoping to find a missing California girl alive after a young man suspected in her abduction may have died in a shootout with sheriff's deputies.

Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said the person who was killed Thursday while exchanging gunfire with officers at a Santa Barbara County mobile home park was "probably" 19-year-old Fernando Castro, a suspect in the girl's kidnapping.

The person killed was driving a gold Saturn sedan linked to Castro that was highlighted in an Amber Alert. Ferrara says Santa Barbara sheriff's deputies spotted the car about 300 miles south of where 15-year-old Pearl Pinson last was seen.

Solano County authorities have been frantically searching for Pinson since a witness reportedly heard a girl screaming for help as a man dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo on Wednesday.

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5:30 p.m.

Television stations are reporting that the 19-year-old man suspected of kidnapping a teen girl in Northern California was killed during a shootout with police in Santa Barbara County.

KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara said medics confirmed Fernando Castro of Vallejo died in a mobile home park in Solvang where he allegedly fled.

The Solano County Sheriff's Department tells television station KTVU in Oakland that Pearl Pinson, the 15-year-old Vallejo girl in whose disappearance Castro was a suspect, has not been located.

Solano County authorities have been frantically searching for Pinson since a witness reportedly heard a girl screaming for help as a man dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo on Wednesday morning.

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4:35 p.m.

Authorities say Southern California police pursued a man wanted in a teen girl's abduction and engaged him in shootout.

The Solano County Sheriff's Department said the suspect was spotted driving near Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County without the girl. After a brief pursuit, he engaged Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies in a shootout.

The Solano County Sheriff's Department didn't say whether anyone was shot. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department didn't return a phone call.

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1:03 p.m.

Authorities in Northern California are frantically searching for a 15-year-old girl whom a witness reportedly heard screaming for help as a man dragged her across a freeway overpass.

The Solano County Sheriff's Office fears Pearl Pinson may be in grave danger based on what the witness told deputies transpired on the pedestrian overpass in Vallejo on Wednesday morning.

The witness reported seeing a girl with a bleeding face pleading for someone to help her as a man armed with a handgun pulled her along. Officials say the witness ran for assistance and heard a gunshot.

Deputies found what appeared to be blood on the overpass, and neither Pinson nor the man they identified as 19-year-old Fernando Castro of Vallejo has been seen since the incident.

Pinson last was seen wearing a grey sweater, black leggings and hair dyed green.

News from © The Associated Press, 2016
The Associated Press

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