Relatives of Dead Man Are Sought

Coroner’s officials are asking the public to help them find relatives of a homeless man who died in Ventura last month.

A second homeless man discovered the body of Frederick Lee Hall, 59, on June 29, lying in a field near the northbound lanes of Highway 33, according to Deputy Coroner James Baroni. Hall, who suffered from emphysema, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver, died apparently of his illnesses, authorities said.

Hall, who sometimes also went by the last name Rose, was born July 20, 1939. During the mid-1980s he spent time in Paradise and Oroville, Calif., Baroni said, and frequented the Oroville Rescue Mission.

Hall married a homeless woman named Velma Miller while in Oroville in 1990, but he hopped on a train a few months later and never returned, Baroni said. He was next known to have spent time in Oregon and Arizona. Miller, who never saw Hall again, divorced him three years later, Baroni said.

Authorities described Hall as 5 feet 11, 180 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes, one of which was made of glass. He usually wore a mustache, and at the time of his death he had a full beard.

Anyone with information about Hall is asked to contact the Ventura County coroner’s office at 641-4400.