The disappearance of 27-year-old Nathan Smith — better known in Toronto’s electronic music scene as DJ Young Slade — has taken another disturbing turn. Newly released and enhanced CCTV footage shows the last confirmed sighting of Nathan walking alone on a residential street in the Beaty neighbourhood of Milton, Ontario, around 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 3, 2026. But investigators and the public are now focused on a second, more ominous piece of video: a dark-coloured sedan parked approximately 100 meters from Nathan’s home that departed the area at precisely 2:45 a.m. — roughly four hours before his final known movement.
Halton Regional Police released portions of the footage late Thursday afternoon in the hope that someone recognizes the vehicle or its driver. The car — described as a black or very dark grey four-door sedan, possibly a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry model from the mid-2010s — is seen idling with headlights off for several minutes before slowly pulling away without activating brake lights or turn signals. No license plate is clearly visible due to distance, angle, and low-light conditions, but forensic enhancement teams are continuing to work on the images.
The timing is chilling. Nathan’s last outgoing text message to his girlfriend was sent at 4:47 a.m.: “I love you. Sorry.” His phone remained at home, unlocked, battery above 40%, messaging app open. The Honda Civic he normally drove was later found locked near Milton GO Station, but no footage places him inside the station or on any train. The four-hour gap between the black car’s departure (2:45 a.m.) and Nathan’s last sighting (6:00 a.m.) has become the focal point of public speculation and police interest.
Detectives have not officially labeled the vehicle a “person of interest,” but they have appealed for anyone who owns or saw a dark sedan in the Beaty area between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. to come forward immediately. Door-to-door canvassing has intensified in a 1.5-kilometer radius around Nathan’s residence, with officers asking residents to check dash-cams, security cameras, and Ring devices for any additional footage from that pre-dawn window.
Community anxiety has reached fever pitch. The Facebook group “Bring Nathan Smith / DJ Young Slade Home” now exceeds 15,000 members, with thousands of new comments appearing hourly after the CCTV stills were made public. Many posts fixate on the black car: “Who parks at 2:45 a.m. with lights off and then leaves without any lights on?” “That’s not normal behaviour — someone knows something.” Others point out the eerie parallel to Nathan’s own last movements: he too was captured walking alone in darkness.
Nathan’s girlfriend told investigators she had gone to bed around 1:30 a.m. after a late shift. She did not hear any unusual noises, no doorbell, no car doors, nothing that would indicate someone entered or left the house. Nathan’s phone shows no outgoing calls or messages between 4:47 a.m. and when it was found. The device has been forensically imaged; police say there is no evidence of third-party access or tampering.
The discovery of the idling vehicle has shifted some of the public narrative from purely mental-health concerns toward the possibility of foul play. While investigators continue to treat the case primarily as a high-risk missing-person investigation with suicide risk factors, they have not ruled out abduction or other criminal scenarios. The 100-meter distance is close enough that the car was almost certainly visible from Nathan’s front windows, yet far enough that it would not have triggered most residential motion lights or cameras.
Friends and fellow DJs have intensified their search efforts. A second candlelight vigil is planned for Friday evening at the Milton GO Station, where Nathan’s abandoned Civic was found. A GoFundMe launched to cover private-investigator fees and reward money has surpassed $45,000 in less than three days. Several prominent Toronto electronic-music promoters have pledged additional funds if a credible lead emerges.
Nathan’s Instagram remains frozen on his final post — a screenshot of a DAW session captioned “late night ideas.” The comments section is now a digital memorial wall: thousands of messages from fans, colleagues, and strangers begging him to come home, promising he is loved, and reminding him that the music community is waiting for him.
Police continue to urge anyone with dash-cam footage, private security video, or any memory of a dark sedan in the Beaty area between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on February 3 to contact them immediately at 905-878-5511 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Four days have passed since Nathan Smith walked out of frame on a quiet Milton street. A black car idled 100 meters from his door and vanished at 2:45 a.m. His final five-word message still glows on an unlocked phone: “I love you. Sorry.”
The silence that followed is deafening. Milton — and an entire music community — is holding its breath.