Priscilla Castro: a dating-app murder and the fire that killed two more

A phone record and a pendant

Castro’s abandoned car was found in Vacaville. Investigators obtained phone records showing her last contact was with a number belonging to Serriteno. When her remains were discovered on September 2, 2020, an angel pendant helped identify her. These were separate pieces of an investigation that began with her family’s concern.

The meeting itself was a prearranged date with someone she had met online, according to subsequent reporting. That establishes the dating connection; it does not establish what she could have known beforehand.

Sources: Solano County district attorney — official sentencing announcement · SFGATE — dating connection and plea coverage

The fire widened the loss

Authorities concluded that Serriteno set the Markley Fire while trying to conceal Castro’s killing. Mai and Bone died in their homes. The fire merged with the Hennessey Fire and became part of the larger LNU Lightning Complex. The distinction matters: this case concerns one fire within a broader group of blazes.

Sources: ABC News — dating-app meeting and developing investigation

The people behind the case

At sentencing, Castro’s mother described her daughter’s hope of opening a hair salon. Her sister remembered their friendship. A wildfire survivor spoke about losing her home and pets. Those accounts brought the individual losses back into a case often described through the scale of the fire.

The convictions were for Castro’s second-degree murder and the first-degree murders of Mai and Bone. The sentencing report says relatives still lacked an explanation for the original killing. A conviction establishes responsibility without necessarily answering every question a family has.

Sources: The Reporter, via Firehouse — reporting from sentencing · Solano County district attorney — official sentencing announcement

What a search can establish

Our takeaway concerns evidence: phone records helped investigators reconstruct contact after Castro disappeared. That does not mean a consumer lookup could have predicted the crime.

A phone lookup can supply identity clues; checking a dating profile photo addresses a different question about images. Neither provides a guarantee about a person’s behavior.

Explore the checks

Learn what phone and photo searches can return, and how to interpret the findings.