Why haven’t arrests been made in Pasco streamer murder and 2 other killings?

Police continue to search for a killer after a young father was discovered dead in the trunk of his car more than a week ago in Pasco.

The death of Carlos Pimentel is the third homicide in the city this year, but it’s the only one in which police say they are still looking for the person who committed the crime.

Pimentel, a 27-year-old lumberyard worker, disappeared after leaving work on April 10. After searching for him for more than a week, his mother discovered his car parked on the side of Fourth Avenue. His body was inside.

The death came a little more than a month after a streamer and another Pasco man were killed. While police have said they know who killed both men, no one has been arrested. Those two deaths are not related.

Cesar Diaz-Avila, 39, was stabbed and killed in an alley between 12th and 14th Avenues south of Sylvester Street about 6:20 p.m. March 3.

The next week, someone shot Danny G. Engstrom, 38, several times outside the Pik-A-Pop store on Fourth Avenue.

Prosecutors have not decided whether to charge the people involved in the deaths of Diaz-Avila and Engstrom, Prosecutor Shawn Sant told the Tri-City Herald.

Sant said police have yet to finish their investigations or reports. Officials are not saying if self-defense is being claimed.

Pasco police Lt. Tom Groom said the investigations are all continuing and that they will release more information when they can.

“With all of these cases, we are responsible for not only determining what happened, but for supporting our determination with the evidence,” Groom said.

That can include waiting for test results to come back, talking to additional witnesses or other items. Groom wasn’t able to speak to specifics in any of the three cases still outstanding.

Questions still linger in all three cases.

Diaz-Avila stabbing

Police were first learned of that Cesar Diaz-Avila had been stabbed when someone in a pickup dropped him off at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, court documents said.

Investigators soon determined he was wounded in a downtown Pasco neighborhood where he lived. The 39-year-old didn’t survive, and an autopsy found he was stabbed several times in the chest.

While detectives say they have identified everyone involved in the incident, no one has been arrested or charged.

Engstrom shooting

Danny G. Engstrom, a 38-year-old father of four, was a prolific YouTube and Twitch streamer for several years before the shooting.

He often spent hours talking into a camera under the name “Danny Stranger.” Sometimes he was playing games with friends. Sometimes he was ranting about his ex-wife, former girlfriends, police or judges.

He was online for several hours on March 8 before he left to go to a nearby gas station to buy snacks. People in the neighborhood called 911 when they heard about three gunshots at the store at Fourth Avenue and Jan Street about 10:30 p.m

When officers arrived they found Engstrom dead near the gas pumps and three men near him, according to dispatch reports.

An autopsy found Engstrom was shot several times in the chest, Coroner Curtis McGary told the Tri-City Herald.

The suspects claimed Engstrom pulled a gun on them, and they fired in self-defense, according to dispatch reports.

Police have not confirmed those reports, Groom said.

But his violent death raised questions from family members, who don’t believe he was armed. Others, however, claimed he had a history of harassing and stalking people, and wondered why more wasn’t done to curb his behavior.

His obituary said Engstrom loved helping family, friend neighbors and others in the community.

Pimentel homicide

Carlos Pimentel’s family had been searching for him for about a week after he failed to show up for his job at a local lumberyard.

He left after work on April 10 and never returned. The 27-year-old’s family and friends became worried when they couldn’t reach him, his sister Catherin Melendez said.

“My mom knew something was off. He wasn’t answering her text messages,” Melendez said.

Police wouldn’t officially take a missing person report because he was an adult who had not been gone long. So, his family began searching for him themselves.

Then on April 19, the day they were able to file the missing report, his mother found his car parked along Fourth Avenue. Police found his body in the trunk.

An autopsy concluded that he’d died from a blow to the head.