OXNARD : Police Say Man, 66, May Have Been Slain

The Oxnard Police Department is treating the death of a 66-year-old Oxnard man whose body washed up on a beach near the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line Dec. 9 as a homicide.

“The cause is still undetermined, but we’ve ruled out virtually everything else,” said Sgt. Denny Phillips of the Oxnard Police Department.

Frank Rojas was driving from his grandson’s residence in Oxnard to his own home a few miles away Dec. 2, but he never made it, Phillips said. Rojas’ body, unclothed except for one sock and shoe, washed up on the rocks of a beach close to Rincon State Park.

Experts say it is not unusual for the currents and waves to disrobe bodies, Phillips said. He added that Rojas’ watch and other jewelry also had disappeared but that this could also have been caused by the ocean.

“The big mystery here is that Rojas’ truck is still missing,” Phillips said. “Usually a vehicle turns up soon because the crook doesn’t want to have any part of it. What do you do with a truck? You can’t put it in a coat pocket. But we still haven’t found it.”

Authorities throughout the nation and in Mexico have been asked to watch for the dark blue, 1986 Nissan pickup with California license plate number 2X38448.

Phillips said police have investigated Rojas’ life and “everything we’ve learned points to this being a homicide. We haven’t found any problems . . . or alternate lifestyles. We’ve even thought about suicide, but that’s highly unlikely. Plus, if it was, where is the truck?”