Driver of Pickup Sought in Woman’s Death in Signal Hill

Authorities appealed for help Friday in tracking down the driver of a pickup truck in connection with the killing of a 27-year-old woman who was abducted in Signal Hill, thrown out of a vehicle and run over.

Amy Pelligrini died of her injuries at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center on Thursday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Sciacca.

Pelligrini, who had arrived from Utah in November and was staying with friends in Long Beach, was on her way to a local market when she was kidnapped about 7:25 a.m. Wednesday, Signal Hill Police Det. Steve Owens said.

Investigators remain unsure how and where Pelligrini got into the pickup truck. But witnesses told detectives that they saw the woman struggling with a burly man inside the truck in the 2500 block of Walnut Avenue, Owens said.

Witnesses said they saw Pelligrini kick out the passenger window from the inside of the Ford truck as she fought off the driver, he said.

The man pushed her out of the truck and hit or ran over her with the vehicle, he said.

Detectives released a sketch of the driver, whom they described as white or Latino in his late 30s to early 40s. He is about 6 feet tall, weighs 200 to 250 pounds and had a beard. He was driving a blue and gray, 1980s Ford pickup truck with a thin pinstripe.

Police have received tips about the truck and are investigating the leads, Owens said.

“We’ve done nothing all day but clue chasing,” he said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t come up with anything substantial.”

In the few weeks since Pelligrini left Utah, she had already been robbed in Los Angeles before her abduction, Owens said, though police believe that the episodes are unrelated.

Authorities urged anyone with information to call the sheriff’s homicide bureau at (213) 890-5500.