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Crime & Safety

Locals Claim to Have Spotted Gavin Smith in Central California

Some witnesses say they say the missing Fox studio executive dining at a restaurant in Morro Bay.

Missing 20th Century Fox distribution executive and former UCLA basketball player Gavin Smith may have been spotted in Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, according to a Wednesday night NBC report.

A man matching Smith's description and photograph was dining with a tall woman about the night of May 7 at the Taco Temple restaurant on state Route 1, businessman David Brill told NBC4.

Brill said he contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, but has not heard back.

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Marcy Carney, a waitress at the restaurant told NBC4 she spoke to the couple, who told her they were from "down south" and were planning to stay in Morro Bay a while.

Steve Whitmore of the sheriff's department said it welcomed the tip, according to NBC4. Whitmore, who was not immediately available to comment on the report, has said previously that detectives have not found any evidence of foul play in Smith's disappearance.

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Smith's family has set up a website -- findgavinsmith.com. Smith's son Evan Smith, a forward on the USC basketball team, has turned to Twitter in an attempt to locate his father.

Smith was last seen driving from a friend's home in the 500 block of Kellwood Court in the Ventura County community of Oak Park between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on May 1.

He was driving a black Mercedes-Benz 420E with tinted windows and a roof rack, according to the sheriff's department. The license plate is 6EKT044.

Smith lives in West Hills and works in Calabasas.

He is white, about 6 feet 6 and 210 pounds, with green eyes, gray hair with blond highlights, a goatee, a roughly 4-inch scar on his right inner wrist and a 5-inch scar on one of his calves, according to the sheriff's department.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts was asked to call sheriff's detectives at 323-890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Anonymous tips can be submitted to http://lacrimestopers.org.

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