Elizabeth Rodriguez

Vallejo Family Seeks Answers for Missing Teen Featured in People Magazine

Nearly three years since the kidnapping of Vallejo teen Pearl Pinson, her whereabouts are still a mystery, and now her story is gaining national attention after People magazine featured her disappearance in its March issue.

Pearl's disappearance is one of eight featured in the magazine as part of a series on missing children.

"Everybody in my family, we just all want her home; we want to know what happened to her, if she’s even OK," said Pearl's sister, Rose Pinson. 

Rose said she hasn't gone a single day without thinking of her missing sister.

Pearl was only 15 when she was abducted as she walked to her bus stop in Vallejo nearly three years ago.

Tips on the case have stopped over time, Solano County Sheriff’s Detective Sean Mattson said. Mattson believes suspect Fernando Castro was responsible for Pearl’s kidnapping. Castro was killed in a shootout with police a day after the kidnapping.

"Unfortunately, the one person who knew where she was, was killed," Mattson said.

Investigators and Pearl’s family hope the People article generates new leads, not just for Pearl but for the other seven children featured.

"Any answer I can get to where my sister’s at, good or bad, that’s all I need," said Rose Pinson. "Just to know."

Contact Us