Lil Jon Reveals Missing Son Has Died After Body Retrieved From Georgia Pond

Lil Jon has announced that his missing son, Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, has died after a man believed to be Smith was discovered in a pond near Smith’s home in an affluent Georgia town. Smith was 27.

“I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother (Nicole Smith) and I are devastated,” Lil Jon wrote in a statement the rapper shared on social media. “Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet. 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.”

Smith was first reported missing on Tuesday. According to local authorities, they had determined that the 27-year-old had left his home in Milton, Georgia, in North Fulton County under unusual circumstances. Family members were then unable to locate him.

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 is believed to be Smith, the Milton Police Department said,

Though the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office has to officially ID the body as Smith, Lil Jon shared the news that his son had died.

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.