This is Terry, Al Rio's friend and art agent for many years. Depression and thoughts of suicide should not be ignored.
I feel like I may have let my friend down by not recognizing he needed professional help. I talked to him frequently and art always seemed to bring him joy. I knew he had problems but I thought he was dealing with it as it came. I never knew he was suicidal but truly wish I could have recognized the symptoms and done something about it. I should have seen the signs.

From his last interview:

What gets you going?

What keeps me going? That's easy: I'm in love with drawing. It runs blood with drawing cells through my veins. My DNA is made of: sketch, pencils and inks, heeheehee. This defines me, drawing is the most important thing in my life. It is my superhero power. The super and details freak AL RIO. Thanks to my good God, my mission here on Earth is drawing.

I'll miss you forever Alvaro.
Terry