ARVIN, CA- New questions about a puzzling local death. Autopsy results indicate an Arvin teenager, whose body was found in a canal this week, died of accidental drowning.
But, the family of 18-year-old Alejandro Pantoja says they don't believe his death was an accident.
Loved ones continue to mourn the loss of the boy they knew as "Gordo," but they are also looking for answers. Pantoja's girlfriend believes someone had it out for him and his death was no accident.
It's been a week since Mayra Savalza last saw her boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, Alejandro Pantoja.
"I never thought I would have to bury my boyfriend not at this age not at this moment," she said.
On Tuesday, the body of 18-year-old Pantoja was found in a canal near Rock Pile Road and Sunset Boulevard in Arvin. The county coroner ruled Pantoja's death was an accidental drowning.
"That's what they said, but I don't believe it. I believe the guy that he left with did something to him," she said.
Less than a mile downstream from where the body was found, was a car that Savalza says Pantoja got into Thursday night, never to be seen again. She says the driver was someone she and her boyfriend knew, but didn't trust.
"He's hiding for something because if it was an accident he could just come and tell us we had an accident, and we would just take it like okay well it was an accident. But if he's hiding, something had to have happened that night."
Now, loved ones can only wait and hope to uncover whatever details people may be hiding in what they think was a planned murder.
"We will find them one day and they will pay for what they did."
Anyone with information about Alejandro Pantoja's death is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 861-3110.
But, the family of 18-year-old Alejandro Pantoja says they don't believe his death was an accident.
Loved ones continue to mourn the loss of the boy they knew as "Gordo," but they are also looking for answers. Pantoja's girlfriend believes someone had it out for him and his death was no accident.
It's been a week since Mayra Savalza last saw her boyfriend and the father of her unborn child, Alejandro Pantoja.
"I never thought I would have to bury my boyfriend not at this age not at this moment," she said.
On Tuesday, the body of 18-year-old Pantoja was found in a canal near Rock Pile Road and Sunset Boulevard in Arvin. The county coroner ruled Pantoja's death was an accidental drowning.
"That's what they said, but I don't believe it. I believe the guy that he left with did something to him," she said.
Less than a mile downstream from where the body was found, was a car that Savalza says Pantoja got into Thursday night, never to be seen again. She says the driver was someone she and her boyfriend knew, but didn't trust.
"He's hiding for something because if it was an accident he could just come and tell us we had an accident, and we would just take it like okay well it was an accident. But if he's hiding, something had to have happened that night."
Now, loved ones can only wait and hope to uncover whatever details people may be hiding in what they think was a planned murder.
"We will find them one day and they will pay for what they did."
Anyone with information about Alejandro Pantoja's death is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 861-3110.