Transient’s Death Labeled Suspicious
The death of a transient whose body was found near railroad tracks in Ventura last month has been labeled suspicious.
It had been believed Joseph Michael Strickland, 43, died from head injuries suffered jumping on or off a freight train.
Coroner’s investigators and police now say they have not been able to determine how Strickland died. They are asking the public’s help in determining his whereabouts in the hours before he died.
Strickland, who has no living family members, was a loner who frequented shelters and other social services in Ventura. He had been known to jump trains to travel between Oxnard and Ventura.
He was last seen about 4:15 p.m. April 24 walking west in the 2000 block of Thompson Boulevard. He was carrying a dark-blue travel bag and wearing a teal-colored coat with a hood, blue jeans and tan work boots.
Strickland was found shortly before 6 a.m. the following day at the south end of Kalorama Street.
Anyone with information should call police Sgt. George Morris at 339-4434.
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