(WXYZ) — The Oakland County Sheriff's Office confirms the body of 48-year-old Christopher James "Chris" Smith was found today behind a Pontiac church on Wayne Street.
Officials say there were no immediate signs of trauma or foul play, and that an autopsy is planned for Wednesday.
7 Action News spoke to the family of the beloved Oxford man after he went missing last week.
Chris Smith was last seen leaving McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac on Wednesday around 6:30 p.m., according to his wife Nicole.
She doesn't know if he was admitted and discharged or if he was checked out and just left on his own.
"He really is a gentle giant," Nicole, Chris Smith's wife, told us earlier this week.
Nicole Smith says Chris works for Oxford Community Schools and did so at the time of the mass shooting in 2021.
"Like most people in our area, there's a lot of people that have struggled with what has happened in our town and he is unfortunately part of that," Nicole Smith said.
Nicole Smith says Chris was sober for two decades and then within the past two years started using alcohol to cope.
On Wednesday, she claims he was severely intoxicated and was brought to McLaren hospital in Pontiac by ambulance. She says by the time she found out he was taken to the hospital, he was already gone.
"He was either released or he left," Nicole Smith said. "I am not sure of those details yet."
A spokesperson for McLaren hospital could not confirm whether Smith was ever admitted due to privacy laws.
He said it's possible Smith was seen and not admitted.
A security guard we spoke to outside the hospital told us she checked surveillance footage but did not spot Smith.
The hospital is located several blocks east of the church, where his body was found, officials say.
