San Jose anti-gang 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 son 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 on Wednesday. The agency, however, did not disclose any details about the death.

“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, 65, disappeared on June 7. His Honda Accord was later 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. Reached by email Wednesday night, a spokesperson said she would check Thursday morning to see if any updates on the case were available for release.

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.

“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.”

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