San Jose: Robert “Rabbit” Rios, an antigang and faith leader, found dead.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY >> Robert “Rabbit” Rios, a community and faith leader in San Jose who went missing nearly a month ago, has been found dead, his family and authorities have confirmed.
Diego Rios, 25, said the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office contacted him over the weekend and arranged to have him identify his father’s body July 1.
“I have some questions about what happened,” Diego Rios said. “He was my father, so I love him, and I just want to make sure he gets the proper rest he needs now.”
Robert Rios, 63, disappeared June 7.
His Honda Accord later was found near Capitol Expressway and McLaughlin Avenue, empty, without any of his personal belongings.
Diego Rios filed a missing persons report with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office on June 10. On June 26, San Jose police were called to the area of Tuers Road, less than a quarter mile from where the Honda was located, for a report of a body discovered beneath a bridge near the Los Lagos Golf Course, Officer Gina Tepoorten said.
“There was no indication at the time of the call that the death was the result of a homicide,” Tepoorten said.
The Police Department did not disclose any additional details about the possible circumstances of Robert Rios’ death. The coroner’s office said the cause of death for Robert Rios is listed as pending.
After he was determined to be missing, family members mounted a search for Robert Rios, who they said suffered from diabetes and some memory loss. They also worried something from his past might have caught up with him.
Robert Rios lived a long life, Diego Rios said in a previous interview with this news organization. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of a gang before spending years in and out of prison on robbery and drug charges.
He renounced his gang membership while incarcerated and went on to become a faith leader with Victory Outreach San Jose, a Christian church through which he sought out current and potential gang members at high schools, street corners and juvenile hall for intervention.
“Everybody knows him,” said Lisa Cuevas, 64, a longtime friend who grew up with Robert Rios, in a previous interview with this news organization. “He’s helped a lot of people since he turned his life around and has really been there for people.”