(This story has been updated to add more information about the encampment.)
Eduardo Castro’s parents brought him cake for his 43rd birthday.
The man known to many as Lalo had struggled in recent years. His mother Lilia Alcala and stepfather Jose Alcala went to see their son who lived in the river bottom near the A Street bridge in Fillmore. They could not have known this birthday would be their son’s last.
Castro’s lifeless body was found partially submerged in the Santa Clara River in the Fillmore area April 2. His death is being investigated as a homicide.
“He was a deeply kind and selfless person who always found ways to give, even when he had little,” wrote his youngest brother Absaid Alcala on the fundraising page for Castro’s funeral.
Alcala said by phone this week that he grew up admiring his brother Lalo, 15 years his senior. As the youngest of his siblings, Alcala would visit his brother’s house in Fillmore, not far from his own, after classes in middle and high school.
“Not only did he have the best snacks in the fridge, he was fun to hang out with,” said Alcala, 28.
Castro had overcome many challenges and once thrived, but those days had long receded into memory.
A generous person
Alcala said his older brother was bullied in school and rejected by some family members when he came out as gay in his teens. But after graduating from Fillmore High School, Castro earned an associate’s degree in accounting from Ventura College, his parents said. He also took business communications classes at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.
He eventually married a man their family called Mickey. The couple lived in Oxnard in a two-story home with a backhouse near The Collection at RiverPark. His brother recalled Castro as meticulous.
“He was a very attractive person — skinny, very fit,” Alcala said.
He was also generous, his mother said in Spanish. Castro would welcome anyone to his home, allowing them to stay rent free if needed. He would help others financially and completed the taxes for friends and family, the brother said.
Alcala credited his older brother for helping him get into college, assisting with the application and financial aid documents.
Not ‘the Lalo I knew’
Castro had bipolar disorder, Alcala said. Around the time the younger brother was in college — eight or nine years ago, Castro began to decline mentally. That’s also around the time Alcala learned of his brother’s drug use.
Castro, who lived in Oxnard, would call his younger brother frantic and scared. Relationships with family members and his husband frayed. Alcala said his brother grew argumentative, casting blame on others for his undoing.
“Unfortunately, what I saw wasn’t the Lalo I knew,” Alcala said.
There were episodes at their parents’ home in Moorpark where they now live. Alcala said he grew numb to Lalo’s behavior.
Among his last interactions, Alcala recalled how his brother had lashed out at their parents and him. Even so, the younger brother said he wished he had pushed aside his anger and invited Lalo inside to eat. He knew his brother was hungry.
Earlier this month, Alcala learned from another sibling that Lalo may have died. He thought perhaps Castro had overdosed. The youngest brother said he wasn’t quite sure how to feel.
“As soon as I saw my mom come into the house, she was just crying,” Alcala said. “It just made me feel just really horrible… the way her face looked.”
For their mom, the loss is all-encompasing. What will she miss?
“Todo,” she said. Everything.
“He’s going to be in our hearts forever,” she said with her son translating.
A return to hometown of Fillmore
Castro became homeless first in Oxnard but eventually returned to his hometown of Fillmore. He would end up in the the Santa Clara River bottom, an area dotted with makeshift shelters.
“Before his death, my parents would go and visit him and give him clothes,” Alcala said.
Their sister Oralia Castro kept close to Lalo and checked on him routinely, bringing him other essentials.
Veronica Nava, with the nonprofit Spirit of Santa Paula, called Castro the mayor of the encampment.
A case manager with the organization that provides homeless assistance in Santa Paula and Fillmore, she made many visits to the Santa Clara River bottom with groups providing backpack medicine and with the Ventura County Sheriff’s homeless liaisons.
Nava said Castro knew the stories of the people who lived in area often requesting extra doses of Narcan, a medication used to reverse an overdose. She described Castro as intelligent, sweet and helpful.
“He took care of a lot of people out there,” she said. “That was his second family.”
Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Bill Meixner said Castro was known to deputies in the area. He lived near the bridge.
“He was contacted there multiple times by law enforcement,” said Meixner, who is investigating the Fillmore man’s death.
Castro suffered blunt-force head injuries, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.
For now, investigators have no suspects.
“We’re still in the preliminary stages and are actually seeking information from the public for anything that would further the investigation,” the detective sergeant said.
Castro’s family plans to hold a memorial service 3-8 p.m. April 17 at Perez Family Funeral Home in Fillmore.
Alcala said he and his parents also want others to know about Lalo and his death. They share his story in the hope that someone will come forward and talk to police or to them. They want justice.
“That’s our goal for Lalo,” his brother said.
Stacie N. Galang is news director of the Ventura County Star. She can be reached at stacie.galang@vcstar.com or 805-437-0222.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Family of Fillmore man found in river recalls generous, troubled soul
Reporting by Stacie N. Galang, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
