Loverboy Bassist Presumed Dead

December 4, 2000 -- Scott Smith, bassist for '80s rock band Loverboy, is missing and presumed dead after being swept off his sailboat by a wave Thursday.

Smith, 45, was taking his 37-foot sailboat to a marina in Southern California when the wave hit, four miles off the coast of San Francisco. He was reportedly not wearing a life jacket. Friends Yvonne Mayotte and William Ellis, who were below deck when the powerful wave crashed into the boat, were not injured, according to the band's manager.

The Coast Guard searched a 133-square-mile area for two days, according to The Associated Press, which was told that the average person could survive less than two and a half hours in the 52-degree water.

Loverboy formed in Canada in 1980 and earned immediate success with its first singles, "Turn Me Loose" and "The Kid Is Hot Tonite." The band's first three albums were certified multiplatinum in both Canada and the United States.