Mike Rinder, Scientology spokesman turned whistleblower, has passed away at age 69

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Mike Rinder, a former top Scientology spokesperson who later broke away and became one of the church’s most outspoken critics, died Jan. 5 in Palm Harbor due to esophageal cancer. He was 69.

Rinder, who once worked closely with church leader David Miscavige, was a crucial source in the St. Petersburg Times’ 2009 multipart investigation into Scientology, The Truth Rundown. Later, he went on to win two Emmys for his work on the docuseries “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

Rinder was born in Australia and raised as a Scientologist. His parents learned about the church from a neighbor who had gone to a talk by Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Rinder wrote that he started regularly attending a local Scientology center as a young child.

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In June 2007, at age 52, Rinder left the church. He wrote about fleeing during a trip to London with “only a briefcase containing my passport, a few papers, a thumb drive and two cell phones.” He snuck away to Central Florida, then Virginia and then Colorado. Fellow defectors helped him find housing and work.

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Rinder wrote that the organization sent lawyers to threaten him and private investigators to keep track of his movements.

“They rented an apartment across from mine, in Westminster, Colorado, to watch me 24/7 through the windows with high-powered cameras and night-vision scopes,” Rinder wrote in his book. “They also took my trash and followed me around for $10,000 per week.”

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After leaving Scientology, Rinder married Christie Collbran. A fellow former Sea Org member, she understood what he’d been through. They lived in Palm Harbor — raising her son, Shane, and a child they had together, Jack.

Before he died, Rinder wrote a statement for his family to share after his passing.

“I have been lucky — living two lives in one lifetime,” he said in his final blog post. “The second one the most wonderful years anyone could wish for with all of you and my new family!”

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My only real regret is not having achieved what I said I wanted to — ending the abuses of Scientology, especially disconnection and seeing Jack into adulthood. If you are in any way fighting to end those abuses please keep the flag flying — never give up.

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