Who killed 58 year old Dionisio Rios in 1987? Dionisio Rios, 58, a Hispanic/Latino man, was discovered on the evening of April 17, 1987, lying in the street on the 3600 block of NE 125th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. A resident saw him and called 911; he had been shot and was pronounced dead, setting off a homicide investigation that would remain unresolved for decades.
In the hours before his death, Rios was last seen in the company of two unidentified Hispanic men at a North Portland 7-11.
The trio was observed in a 1980 maroon Oldsmobile bearing California license plates. Not long after Rios was found, police located that Oldsmobile at 718 NE 64th Avenue, and investigators noted blood inside the vehicle, an ominous detail that suggested the killing or a key part of the assault had occurred away from where his body was discovered.
Detectives learned that Rios was a Mexican national who had only recently arrived in the United States. According to the investigation, he had connections to the Mexican drug trafficking trade, a thread that hinted at a motive but did not yield a suspect name. The portrait that emerged was of a man newly in Portland, drawn into dangerous company in the days leading up to his death, and then left in the street after being shot.
No arrests have been made in the case. The two men seen with Rios on the night of his death remain unidentified, and the investigation has continued as a cold case, with authorities periodically appealing for information that could finally identify the suspect or suspects responsible.
