Albuquerque family searches for answers in daughter’s death

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The search for answers continues for an Albuquerque family, more than a year after their daughter was shot and killed.

31-year-old Krystal Castillo was dropped off outside Presbyterian Hospital in the middle of the night in April 2022, according to police. 

Her family says she was shot in the head and to this day, that is still all they know about her death. They are now asking the public to help them find closure, and they say they know someone out there knows something.

Krystal’s parents say their attempts to get answers from Albuquerque police have gone nowhere. That’s why they scraped together their own money to pay for a digital billboard. It’s in the rotation on several screens across the city, asking anyone with information to come forward.

The family says it’s a last-ditch effort to uncover some answers and make sure Krystal’s case is not forgotten.

“I have good days, I have bad days. You know, sometimes I don’t want to get out of bed,” said Krystal’s father, Lawrence Castillo.

The pain is still fresh for Krystal Castillo’s family one year after her mysterious death.

“I think it’s a dream, that it’s, you know, it’s not real. But then I realize it’s, you know, I go to the cemetery and I look at a gravestone or headstone, and I’m like ‘she’s not coming back,’” said Lawrence.  

“No time of death, no time of when she was taken to the hospital. Whether you know what time all this happened? Who was there a witness, where did that happen? Nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Krystal’s grandmother, Polly Castillo. “We don’t even know if it was to drive-by, if it was in a parking lot, or her apartment, nothing at all.” 

The family says their attempts to get answers from Albuquerque police often hit a dead end.

“I called the detective, and they said, ‘There’s no leads, there’s still an open case,’” said Lawrence. “All we know is she just left, left her apartment and didn’t come back.” 

The single mother of two had just celebrated her son’s eleventh birthday, and her family says she was planning to go back to school for her business degree before she was killed.

“She was a young single mother wanting to turn her life around with the sake of her children,” said Polly. “This is why I know that angels carried her home when it was her time.”

The family fears the lack of answers about her death will hurt Krystal’s young children the most.

“Her daughter is only two years old and amazing, she recognizes her mama’s pictures and says ‘mama.’ But you know they’re not gonna stay children, they’re growing up, and they want to know,” Polly said. 

The family is hoping the digital billboards encourage someone to say something, knowing even the smallest tip matters.

“Just give us closure. We asked for you, for the public’s help. You know, I mean we just, we try to keep her memory alive every day, and we just want justice,” said Lawrence.

Albuquerque police detained and questioned the man who brought Krystal to the hospital the night she died.

Krystal’s family says they don’t even know his name or if he’s connected to the case anymore.

KOB 4 reached out to APD Saturday, but has not received any new information.

If you know any information about Krystal Castillo’s death, you’re asked to call Crime Stoppers at 242-COPS.