Ruben Garcia, a 60-year-old resident of Cabazon, California, was reported missing on July 29, 2021. His body was found two days later, on July 31, 2021, in an open desert area south of the train tracks between Almond and Olive streets in Cabazon. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department reported that Garcia had suffered trauma consistent with a homicide and that he had been fatally shot with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

Investigators arrested two men in August 2021: Victor Diaz Sandoval, 52, of Cabazon, and Gilberto Garcia, 38, of Banning. Both were charged with murder and other offenses; Sandoval faced additional sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. A third person, Pedro Urieta Angeles, was initially sought but was never charged. By January 2023 a judge found there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial and set a date for April 2023.

The motive for Ruben Garcia’s killing has not been disclosed. If anyone in or around Cabazon remembers seeing Ruben in late July 2021 or has information about his death, please come forward.