Busboy’s Slaying Stuns Co-Workers, Relatives : Newbury Park: Rudolfo Macias is found bludgeoned at his home. Detectives search for a suspect in L.A.

At the Newbury Park restaurant where he worked, Rudolfo Macias was known for his exuberant good spirits, his enthusiasm for work and his playful flirtations with the waitresses.

“He had a smile that just warmed everybody’s heart,” waitress Nancy Hass said. “If you came in and looked nice, he was first to tell you how nice you looked. He could make you feel like a million bucks.”

But on Wednesday, Macias’ co-workers were in mourning for the 25-year-old busboy known as Rodo. As they waited on customers, the restaurant staff wore black ribbons pinned to their uniforms in memory of Macias, who was found bludgeoned to death in his Newbury Park home Tuesday evening.

Ventura County sheriff’s detectives had made no arrests Wednesday, but were in Los Angeles searching for a man they had identified as a suspect, said Sheriff’s Lt. Kathy Kemp. Los Angeles police found Macias’ Chevy Blazer, which was missing from his home, abandoned in the parking lot of a Glendale convalescent home early Wednesday, Kemp said.

Macias was the 15th homicide victim in Ventura County this year, Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said.

He died Tuesday of numerous blows to his head and body from a heavy, blunt object such as a tire iron or hammer, Kemp said. An autopsy indicated he died between 7:30 and 11:30 a.m. Because of the nature of his wounds, detectives at first thought he had been shot.

Detectives returned Wednesday to resume the search for a weapon at the house where Macias rented a room with his brother for $350 a month in the 800 block of North Verna Avenue.

“We were predominantly focusing on a firearm last night,” Kemp said. “We’re going to go back and be much more focused on looking for a different type of weapon.”

Two other couples lived in the three-bedroom house, which was off-limits to residents Wednesday morning.

Outside the house, Macias’ two brothers and half a dozen cousins gathered to console each other and make plans to send the body to his parents in Zacatecas, Mexico.

“He was just a nice guy,” said Juan Hernandez, 20, Macias’ nephew. “Everybody liked him, that’s why no one can believe this happened.”

His brother, Roque Macias, said, “I can’t believe it, because he didn’t have any enemies.”

Another brother, Aurelio Macias, 27, said Rudolfo enjoyed working at the Country Harvest restaurant and sent part of his paycheck home each month to their parents. Rudolfo Macias came to Southern California 12 years ago to live with his sisters and brothers and look for work, relatives said. He had worked at the restaurant for more than four years.

Rudolfo was planning to return to Mexico in September, possibly to marry a woman with whom he had been exchanging letters, Roque Macias said.

Rudolfo Macias had the day off Tuesday and had planned to go to San Jose with friends, but canceled the trip Monday night because of car trouble, said Debbie Lundly, owner of the Country Harvest restaurant.

Aurelio Macias said he discovered his brother’s body when he returned from his landscaping job Tuesday and found the door to their room locked from inside. Hearing the television on inside, he called his brother’s name several times. When there was no answer, he forced the door open and found Rudolfo lying face down in a pool of blood.

Someone had disconnected the phone and punched out a window screen, Aurelio Macias said.

Family members said a man who had apparently been trying to sell their brother a watch Monday night may have been trying to rob him. Relatives suspect robbery was a motive in the killing because Macias’ wallet and money from a paycheck he received Friday were missing from the room, Aurelio Macias said.

Kemp said detectives had not established a motive but consider robbery a possibility because of the missing property.

William Muller, 66, who lives next door, said he was home for much of the morning Tuesday but heard nothing unusual. The neighborhood, he said, usually lives up to Thousand Oaks’ image as one of the safest communities in the country.

“It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” he said. “It’s kind of a shock when you get it that close to you. You don’t know anymore if you’re safe.”