Scot Breithaupt: BMX Star Found Dead

Scot Breithaupt, the pioneer and "godfather" of BMX, was found dead near the desert city of Indio, Calif. on Monday, the Associated Press reports. He was 57 years old.

Breithaupt's death is clouded in uncertainty, according to Sgt. Dan Marshall. His body was found in a vacant lot in Indio where at least eight homeless people were living, WTOC.com reports. He had been dead for an undetermined amount of time and, although there were no obvious signs of foul play, a cause of death is yet to be determined. Breithaupt had been battling a crack cocaine addiction since the 1980s, his brother Jeffrey told the LA Times.

Breithaupt was a competitive motorcross rider as a teenager growing up in Long Beach, Calif. in the 1970s. He saw a group of kids riding their bikes in a dirt lot near his home and it inspired him to organize bike races on a dirt path similar to the ones used in motocross. He quickly became one of the founders of BMX riding, and would go on to become a champion of the sport.

In 1990, USA BMX inducted Breithaupt into its BMX Hall of Fame. Craig Barrette, spokesman for USA BMX, said the bike races Breithaupt organized in the '70s were some of the first BMX races ever.

"Scot was one of the key figures in making BMX become what it is today. He would say he was the key figure, because that was the kind of guy he was," Barrette said, according to the New York Times. "He was involved in every aspect of BMX."

Before he graduated high school, Breithaupt was already building tracks for kids in nearby Los Angeles and Orange County. He was featured in the 2005 documentary on the sport, "Joe Kid On A Stingray: The History of BMX," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"He was a kid - all of us were kids who were doing the sport at the time," John Swarr, the film's co-director and co-writer, said. "He was the one who was able to bring it out and bring it up and really grow it faster."

Current BMX stars Jamie Bestwick and Mike King took to social media to pay tribute to the "godfather" of BMX. See their posts below.