Fox executive Gavin Smith was reported missing last Wednesday, but were there signs before his disappearance that things weren't quite right?
An ominous tweet posted April 14 by Gavin's son Evan raises that very question. We've put together a timeline of events leading to 57-year-old Gavin's mysterious fall off the radar.
1994: Around this time, Gavin begins his illustrious career in Hollywood. He works in Fox's distribution department, helping release movies like Titanic, Avatar and the latest Star Wars movies. He marries wife Lisa and has three sons.
Apr. 14, 2012: Gavin's 21-year-old son, Evan, takes to Twitter to express his frustration over a family situation. "Thoughts and prayers out to my amazing Mom and bros plz," the USC student and basketball player writes. "My dad decided to leave the family last nite. Real family sticks together." (Gavin later clarifies to E! News about the tweet: "They were not separated. They were just going through normal stuff couples go through.")
Late April: Evan has a "normal conversation" with his father, as he tells E! News two weeks later. It was the last time they spoke. "I didn't get the chance to say goodbye," he says.
May 1: Gavin spends the night with a family friend in Oak Park, Calif., his family later told Good Morning America. At 10 p.m., he is driving his Mercedes 420E sedan near his home in San Fernando, Calif. Described as 6 feet 6 and 210 pounds, he was last seen wearing purple pants and black and gray shoes. His family declines to say why he was staying with the friend. E! News has spoken with the friend, who declined to comment.
May 2: Despite making plans with Lisa to take their son to school, Gavin is a no-show. Lisa reports her husband as missing to the Los Angeles Police Department.
May 4: Detectives issue a special missing persons bulletin in an effort to locate the father of three. Meanwhile, Gavin's sister Tara Smith Addeo also takes her plea online, writing on Facebook that the last GPS signal they got from the missing exec placed him in Sylmar, Calif., at 4:30 a.m. on May 2. The location is about 30 minutes from his home. "Nobody has seen him or heard from him since and his car has not been found."
May 8: Lisa pleads to her husband on Good Morning America: "We want you to come home, baby. Our world is not right without you…Be safe."
May 9: Gavin's family and friends launch findgavinsmith.com in an effort to get any information about his whereabouts. Gavin's oldest son, Evan, continues to plead to his Twitter followers for help locating his father. "I've been spending some time in deep prayer," Evan writes. "I am so blessed to be surrounded by so much love…I miss my daddy."
Meanwhile, both sheriff's deputies and the LAPD tell E! News the case is still being treated as a missing person's case.
May 10: Authorities announced that the body of a man discovered lying next to a guard rail on the Angeles Crest Highway at about 5:15 a.m. was not Smith.
May 11: Newly hired family publicist Howard Bragman sits down with Good Morning America and declares, "I've never seen a family more united in wanting to find their father and their husband."
Meanwhile, Evan Smith tells E! News exclusively, "I'm hanging in there. Lots of prayer. We gotta find him sooner or later. It's just ridiculous. He disappeared off the face of the Earth. It's a nightmare, but I have so many people at my side I can't complain. Only hope."
May 15: Smith's family announces plans for a search of certain "remote areas" in the coming weekend and invites the public to join in, with more details to be revealed via their new "Find Gavin Smith" website.
May 16: The search is subsequently called off, with family rep Howard Bragman saying that there is "not a specific area of defined interest to make this effort productive at this time." Bragman also says that any interviews with family members that may have been scheduled for Friday will not be happening.
May 21: A source close to the investigation tells E! News that they are "working on some new leads," including the reported sighting of a man matching Smith's description in Morro Bay, north of Santa Barbara.
June 5: Sheriff's Department homicide detectives and family members hold a press conference asking for the public's assistance with any information as to Smith's whereabouts. Authorities tell E! News that is no new information in the case and that the family is offering a $20,000 reward for useful tips. They note this is still a missing-person case, despite the involvement of the homicide bureau.
June 8: Homicide detectives, along with a canine unit and crime lab analysts, execute a search warrant at a residence in the San Fernando Valley district of Canoga Park. Local media report that police now suspect foul play in Smith's disappearance.
(Originally published May 9, 2012, at 2:21 p.m. PT)