Body of Gavin Smith, Father of Former Trojan Evan Smith, Found

UPDATE: From the Los Angeles Times: "The manner in which Smith died hasn't been determined, but he was likely killed at the direction of an individual and with the assistance of others experienced in violent crime."

ORIGINAL: Evan Smith's career never took off as a forward on the USC men's basketball team. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds his freshman season before suffering multiple injuries that required surgery, including surgery to fix a torn labrum, and eventually taking a medical retirement.

But Smith's personal life took a much more tragic turn than his career when his father, Gavin Smith, disappeared two years ago. Gavin, who was an executive at 20th Century Fox and former UCLA basketball player, hadn't been seen since May 1, 2012, but authorities have told the Los Angeles Times Gavin Smith's remains "have been found and positively identified by the Los Angeles County coroner.

Smith was officially declared dead on May 1 earlier this year with Los Angeles County sheriff's detective telling the Times that they had "physical evidence of his death." However, Smith's body had not been found until now.

Smith's body was found In Palmdale in the Angeles National Forest by hikers on October 26, according to KTLA.

"The coroner’s office confirmed Wednesday night that they had Smith’s body, but said the case was on a security hold and no other information would be released by their office."

The case is on security hold because it is still under investigation.

Smith was last seen leaving a friend's house May 1, 2012. When Gavin didn't pick up Evan's younger brother for school the next morning, the family reported him missing. Evan Smith took to Twitter, starting a campaign asking anyone and everyone to help find his father. Unfortunately, those pleas did not help uncover information leading to Gavin being found.

In March 2013, authorities located Gavin Smith's Mercedes-Benz in a Simi Valley storage facility.

"Based upon the condition of the vehicle and based upon information we have gathered from witnesses who are cooperating, we believe that this case is a homicide case," said Lt. Dave Dolson at the time of the discovery. - KTLA

Our thoughts are with former Trojan Evan Smith and the rest of the Smith family.