Hollywood film executive Gavin Smith is reportedly missing, and the surprising details - or lack thereof - about the family man's disappearance have left his wife, kids and colleagues searching for answers.
Smith was staying at a friend's house and drove off, without a word, in his black Mercedes around 10 p.m. one night last week. He never came back.
The 57-year-old was reported missing by his wife Wednesday when he failed to pick up his son to take him to school and then did not call into work.
Smith's wife, kids, and sister told ABC News that the former UCLA basketball star and 20th Century Fox movie exec would never abandon his family.
"He would never do that. He's a great father. My dad had no reason to leave," said Evan Smith, Gavin's eldest son and a basketball player at USC.
The family would not say why Smith, an 18-year veteran in the movie industry, was staying with a family friend in Oak Park, Calif., Tuesday night.
He had reportedly returned earlier that that day from a movie convention in Las Vegas and was supposed to stay the night there, but the family said it was unusual that he left that home at 10 p.m. without warning.
"They'd already gone to bed," Lisa Smith said. "So, he was still downstairs watching TV when our friend went to bed. He was going to bed shortly."
The Smiths told ABC News that Gavin Smith's cell phone charger, shaving kit, and other belongings were all still at the friend's house.
He was last seen in purple workout pants belonging to his teenage son, which the family says is a sign he had no intention of going out in public.
"That's what he was wearing, you know? It doesn't sound like he was going anywhere, you know?" Evan Smith said.
Lisa Smith said she last spoke to her husband Tuesday during the day to arrange plans for Wednesday morning for him to come pick up his son and take him to school. Lisa was busy taking care of her mother, who is battling cancer.
"As soon as I heard that he had not picked up Austin from school, that's when I said, 'There has to be something wrong.' What that is, I don't know. I don't know," said Tara Addeo, Smith's sister.
The family has not been able to track down Smith through cell phone or credit card use or locate his car. They say he had no known enemies.
"We know someone knows something. There's no doubt that someone knows something," Lisa Smith said.
"He's so recognizable, and he was in purple pants," Addeo added.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Public Information Officer Steve Whitmore told ABC News it's a missing-person case, and asked the public for tips.
Authorities say he was driving a black 2000 Mercedes-Benz 420E with a storage rack on the roof, tinted windows and a California license plate 6EKT044.
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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 5/10/2012 06:04:00 AM --
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