UPDATE: Two weeks after reported missing, Riverside man’s body found along river bottom

UPDATED: June 4, 6 p.m. With details of victim’s discovery

RIVERSIDE: A Riverside family is grieving after a man who had been reported missing under suspicious circumstances was found deceased along a river bottom just three short miles from where he had last been seen. Officials say the 51-year-old man, who had been reported missing May 22 – the day after he was last seen at his Riverside home – was the victim of an apparent suicide.

Officials have reported that Sabino Gonzalez Perez’ body was found along the Santa Ana River bottom and stated the missing man was the apparent victim of suicide. Gonzalez family photo

Sabino Gonzalez Perez’ lifeless body was found shortly before noon Saturday morning, June 2, according to a Riverside PD social media release. Gonzalez’ body was discovered along the Santa Ana River bottom near where his pickup truck had been found three days after his disappearance last month.

The missing person’s investigation began when Gonzalez’ family reported him missing after telling family members he was going to the store around 3 p.m. and left his home on the 4500 block of Jones Avenue.

In an initial social media press release, officials explained that Gonzalez never returned home and also failed to show up for work later that evening.

His white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was later discovered, locked and unoccupied, in the area of Jurupa Avenue and Tyler Street, near where his body was found nine days later.

Officials have not specified how Gonzalez died or what led them to believe he had killed himself and have stated, “The exact cause of death is still pending the Coroner’s report, but preliminary investigation appears it may have been suicide.”

“The family of Mr. Gonzalez asks for privacy during this unfortunate time,” officials said in an updated release about their investigation.

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.