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Gavin Smith Mystery: Missing Fox Executive's Son Says Foul Play Has "Entered His Mind"

Evan Smith, son of 57-year-old Gavin Smith, tells E! News it's "not like my dad to go off the grid"; Smith has been missing for a week

By Natalie Finn, Baker Machado May 08, 2012 12:32 AMTags

No surprise, Evan Smith is worried about his father, Gavin Smith.

"We're having a tough time trying to find him, but we are taking it day by day," Evan, a USC basketball player, exclusively tells E! News. "This has been a tough time, but we are sticking together as a family. We are not a broken family, we're in this together." 

Gavin, 57, a longtime distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, was reported missing by his wife last Wednesday after he failed to pick up one of their kids for school. He was last seen the night before, driving away from a friend's house in his black Mercedes.

LAPD is investigating, but what does his family think may have happened to him?

"I don't want to think of foul play, but it has entered my mind," says Evan, 21.

"We were always in touch, he texted me all the time," he says. "It's not like him to go off the grid. That shows how serious this is." 

Evan says that detectives have been repeatedly pinging his dad's cell phone and checking his credit cards for activity, but have nothing to report. Investigators have also been combing Malibu Canyon and other coastal areas because Gavin tended to spend a lot of time at the beach.

"I trust they are going to do their job," Evan says of the police. The student athlete has also been using his Twitter page to get the word out about his father, who, being a former UCLA basketball player who played on a championship team in 1975, is 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds.

"I can't tell you how I appreciate everyone's help," Evan tells E! News. "I'm trying to put faith in God and pray that he is OK." 

Evan had a "normal conversation" with his dad about two weeks ago, and that's the last time they spoke. "I didn't get the chance to say goodbye," he says.