Loved Ones Want To Know: How Did WeHo Man End Up In A Hospital?
WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Family and friends of a West Hollywood man are trying to unravel a mystery.
Ramon Estrada called his partner about 1:45 a.m. July 7 to say that he was on his way home from the Gold Coast, a popular West Hollywood bar.
He told the partner Michael Shutt to leave their door unlocked as he had forgotten his key. Estrada never made the five-minute walk home.
His friends and family searched for him for days.
On Saturday, almost a week after he disappeared, family and friends took to the streets and handed out flyers.
Estrada was found Sunday in a coma at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
CBS2's Randy Paige said his loved ones have no idea how he got there.
"He's very generous, very level-headed, very kind, he would never want to hurt anybody," Shutt said.
"Everybody just wants some type of answer," he added.
About 20 minutes after the 1:45 a.m. phone call, the victim was spotted unconscious between parked cars on the corner of Mansfield Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard with a severe head injury and broken shoulder.
"Right now, he is in ICU. This is going to be the 10th day, I believe," Shutt said.
No one knows what happened to Perez.
Could it be a robbery? His white cellphone is missing. Could he have been hit by a car or assaulted?
Friends theorize he took a bus and got off at Orange and Santa Monica Boulevard. Estrada walked about two blocks from where he was found, a short distance from his home.
"We really want to know just what happened to him. Its been very tragic for all of us to see him in this condition," lifelong friend Wendy Mairena said.
Juan Fernandez, reporting for KCAL9, picked up the story Wednesday evening.
He said Shutt called Estrada's cell phone around 3 a.m. that night but that it was dead.
Shutt filed a missing persons report the following morning.
"We've lived in this neighborhood for nine years," Shutt said, "I can't believe this is happening to him. It's just very sad to see him in this condition."
Police are saying Estrada's injuries are consistent with a beating.
Mario Ornellas, the victim's brother, told Fernandez seeing his brother in the hospital has been hard on the family, especially their mom.
"She is totally heartbroken," he said.
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