The body of the rapper Lil Jon’s 27-year-old son was found in a pond in Georgia on Friday, days after he was reported missing, the authorities and his family said.
Nathan Smith, whose stage name is DJ Young Slade, was reported missing on Tuesday after he ran out of his house without his phone, the Milton Police Department said on social media.
Mr. Smith was last seen in the Milton, Ga., area, roughly 30 miles north of Atlanta, around 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The authorities said at the time that he “may be disoriented and in need of assistance.”
Divers from the Cherokee County Fire Department recovered a body from a pond near Mr. Smith’s home around noon on Friday. The person is believed to be Mr. Smith, the police said on social media.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the person’s identity, as well as the cause of death. The office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday evening.
The authorities determined that Mr. Smith had left his home on foot this week “under unusual circumstances.” Multiple agencies searched for him over the next several days.
Officials recently expanded their search to include a pond in Mayfield Park, a short walk from where Mr. Smith was last seen.
There was no evidence of foul play in Mr. Smith’s death, the authorities said.
Mr. Smith is the only son of Lil Jon, the Grammy award-winning rapper who invented “crunk,” a Southern hip-hop style that dominated the radio in the early to mid-2000s.
His hits include the party anthems “Get Low,” “Yeah!” with Usher, and “Turn Down for What” with DJ Snake.
Lil Jon said on social media on Friday that he and his ex-wife, Nicole Smith, were heartbroken over the death of their son, calling him “the kindest human being you would ever meet” and “an amazingly talented young man.”
Mr. Smith was a music producer, artist and engineer who graduated from New York University, Lil Jon said.
“He was loved and appreciated,” he said, “and in our last times together, we’re comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him.”
Hannah Ziegler is a general assignment reporter for The Times, covering topics such as crime, business, weather, pop culture and online trends.
The post Lil Jon’s Son Is Found Dead in a Georgia Pond, Police Say appeared first on New York Times.
