The body of a man who is believed to be Nathan Smith, the son of rapper Lil Jon, who was reported as missing earlier this week, was discovered on Friday in a pond near his home in an affluent Georgia town.
Multiple questions remain unanswered in the disappearance and apparent death of Smith. He was first reported missing on Tuesday. According to local authorities, they had determined that Smith had left his home in Milton, Georgia, in North Fulton County under unusual circumstances. Family members were then unable to locate the 27-year-old, who was known professionally as DJ Young Slade.
Milton police issued a statement saying that Smith “ran out of the house on foot and that he did not have a phone on him at the time he was last seen.”
Over the days that followed, the search party that involved multiple local agencies grew in size and scope as there was no sign of Smith or contact with him and his family. Late on Friday morning, after the search was expanded to include a pond at nearby Mayfield Park, search and rescue divers with the Cherokee County Fire Department located and recovered a body from the water.
The body recovered from Mayfield Park has not officially been identified as Smith and confirmation is pending official identification by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Police said there is no indication of foul play. However, the Milton Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division said the case remains open and active.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Smith family during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for the Milton Police Department said.
Lil Jon said he and Smith’s mother, Nicole Smith, released a statement after the discovery of the body, saying they’re “devastated” by the news.
“Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet,” the two wrote in a shared statement. “He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted — he loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest. He was an amazingly talented young man; a music producer, an artist and engineer, and a graduate of NYU. We loved Nathan with all of our hearts and are incredibly proud of him. He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together we’re comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him.”
More to come.