SAN PEDRO : Police Seek Mentally Impaired Teen-Ager

Police on Tuesday were searching for a mentally impaired San Pedro teen-ager who wandered away from home Christmas Eve, and has since told friends he is afraid he will get into trouble if he returns.

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Lyle Prideaux said 16-year-old Rex Howard Ross lived at the military housing facility near Western Avenue and John Montgomery Drive.

Ross, who has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old, was seen by a teen-age acquaintance at a Lucky market the day after Christmas, Prideaux said. And the youth telephoned a friend and said he would not return home because he feared he would be punished for being out so long, the Harbor Division detective said.

“It appears that he’s in the area and that this is more of a runaway situation,” Prideaux said. But authorities were concerned because of his “somewhat limited mental situation,” he said.

Ross, described as white with curly brown hair and hazel eyes, is 5 feet 9 and weighs 235 pounds, police said. He was wearing blue jeans, a black T-shirt with a Marlboro insignia over the front pocket and a green and black jacket.