Gilberto Santillan walked into Angela DuRoss and John Taylor’s Manhattan Beach home one recent afternoon with a red cooler full of hot tamales stuffed with cheese.
“Oh, they’re still warm,” DuRoss said, with a bright smile, as she offered him and his brother, Pedro, a bowl of berries.
Santillan, a 55-year-old man who speaks broken English, has been visiting DuRoss and Taylor’s home – and 1,000 other Manhattan Beach homes – every week for more than 15 years.
He was their trash man.
But many residents considered him a friend. Neighborhood children anticipated his arrival each week, when he’d pull up in his big green truck, honk his horn and wave. He’d often help the kids cross the street on their way to school, and over the years, he’d bring the kids little gifts – a sports ball, stuffed animal or some candy.
Santillan’s green garbage truck was once featured on a little boy’s birthday cake. Another family grew up using homemade placemats with a collage of pictures, including one of Santillan, smiling in front of his truck.
Each Christmas, residents presented him with cards and gifts, boxes of cookies and chocolate to take to his West Los Angeles home.
During the most recent holiday season, residents noticed Santillan wasn’t making his weekly visits. “Everyone was sort of, ‘Where is Gilberto?’” DuRoss said. “We realized something was not right.”
Resident Julia Birkel assumed he had been promoted.
