Los Angeles authorities are investigating a man's claim that he spotted missing Hollywood executive Gavin Smith at a restaurant some 200 miles north from where Smith was last seen.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whittmore told FoxNews.com that investigators interviewed the witness, identified as David Brill, on Thursday. 

Brill, who is from Madison, Wis., told NBC News that he thinks he saw Smith dining at a restaurant May 7 in Morro Bay, located on California's central coast and about 200 miles from Los Angeles, where Smith lives. Brill was on a business trip at the time, according to NBC. 

Smith, 57, who played basketball for legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA in the 1970s, is a 20th Century Fox movie executive who lives in West Hills. Smith, whose son Evan, plays for USC, was last seen May 1 leaving a family friend's home in Oak Park, about 35 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, police said.

Brill said in the TV interview that he saw Smith and a woman eating at a restaurant called Taco Temple.

"The next morning in the office, I noticed on the Yahoo main page that there was a news link to a missing Hollywood executive. I happened to click on the link, saw the photo and said, 'Oh boy, that's the guy I saw in the restaurant the previous night,'" Brill told NBC.

FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin contributed to this report.Â