NEW : Authorities say they have a `` how '' and a `` why '' in the case . Gavin Smith disappeared in May 2012 after leaving a friend 's house . His black Mercedes was recovered at a storage facility last year . The Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Department officially declared him dead in May this year . The car had been reported stolen from an apartment complex on July 18, 2013.
NEW : Authorities say they have a `` how '' and a `` why '' in the case . Gavin Smith disappeared in May 2012 after leaving a friend 's house . His black Mercedes was recovered at a storage facility last year . The car had been reported stolen from an apartment complex on July 18, 2013.