Vacaville Man Arrested In Disappearance, Murder Of Vallejo Woman
VACAVILLE (CBS SF) -- A 28-year-old Vacaville man has been arrested for allegedly killing Priscilla Castro, a Vallejo woman who vanished in August and whose burned body was found in a rural area of Solano County near Lake Berryessa.
Vacaville police said Victor Serriteno, a Vacaville man who allegedly met Castro on the night of her August disappearance, was being held in Solano County Jail on a no-bail warrant for homicide.
"The suspicious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Priscilla Castro has undoubtedly cast a dark shadow of turmoil over her loved ones during the last several weeks," Vacaville investigators said in press release. "It is with a heavy heart we bear this horrific news of this senseless death. Our thoughts are with Priscilla's family during this difficult time."
According to Vacaville detectives, on the evening of August 18 officers were called to the 100 block of Bush Street for a report of an abandoned car.
The car was found to be associated with Castro - reported missing to the Oakland Police Department hours earlier after her family was unable to reach her for the last two days.
With her cell phone off and no activity on her social media account, her disappearance spurred the deployment of detectives that began an intense investigation.
Over the course of the coming days, detectives learned that the 32-year-old Priscilla had come to Vacaville on the evening of August 16 for a prearranged date with Serriteno. Following that alleged meet, Priscilla was not seen or heard from again.
Utilizing cell phone records and analytics software, detectives started a grid search on September 2nd in a rural area of Solano County near Lake Berryessa.
During their search they located the remains of a burned body. After the collection and analysis of evidence on scene, it was confirmed on that the body was Castro.
The Solano County Coroner's Office has ruled the death a homicide, but the exact cause of death is still under investigation.
Following the culmination of several interviews, the review of cell phone records, city camera footage and additional evidence; Vacaville detectives arrested Serriteno after tracking him down in Santa Clara on Friday morning. He was taken into custody without incident.
If you have any information about this incident, you are encouraged to contact Detective Ryan Smith with the Vacaville Police Department at 707-469-4826.
