BMX star Dave Mirra was found dead in his truck Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police in Greenville, North Carolina. He was 41.
Mirra's apparent suicide comes just after two Instagram posts, one calling his wife his "rock" and another of him riding his bike from high school. His body was discovered in his truck near his former high school.
Besides his wife, Mirra leaves behind two children.
In the hours before his death, Mirra posted a photo of himself and his wife, captioning the image, "My rock! Thank god."
He was discovered in his truck less than 1,000 feet from his former high school, after posting this photo of himself riding his bike from school.
Rose high school Greenville Nc A photo posted by Dave Mirra (@davemirra) on Feb 4, 2016 at 12:58pm PST
Mirra was born in New York but grew up in Greenville. He won 24 X Games medals. Mirra’s success landed him a BMX videogame series, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. He also raced for Subaru’s rally car racing team.
Mirra also hosted MTV shows such as Real World/Road Rules Challenge and The Inferno season in 2004 and The Inferno II in 2005.
He recently posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, "Fight to win! We all have a battles to fight. Never back down. Love you all. #diewithyourbootson"
Fight to win! We all have a battles to fight. Never back down. Love you all. #diewithyourbootson
A photo posted by Dave Mirra (@davemirra) on Feb 3, 2016 at 4:12pm PST
Friend and biker T.J. Lavin shared a photo of himself with Mirra and two other friends Thursday, captioning the photo, "Really love you guys."Really love you guys... @fuzzyhall @davemirra @bowie82 A photo posted by TJ (@tjlavin) on Feb 4, 2016 at 3:44pm PST
Lavin told TMZ, "I just wish he would have called me. I would have jumped on a plane in a second. There's always another way. If anyone needs help, just please get it. I feel sick about this."