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CNY native Dave Mirra of BMX, MTV fame found dead of apparent suicide at 41

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BMX bike rider Dave Mirra pauses during practice for the Panasonic Open event Thursday, June 9, 2005, in Louisville, Ky.

Central New York native Dave Mirra has been found dead of an apparent suicide, according to TMZ Sports. The BMX biker legend was 41.

The celebrity gossip site reports Mirra’s body was discovered in his truck around 4 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, North Carolina. He had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Mirra, who leaves behind a wife and two children, was believed to be visiting friends in the area where he was found.
“My rock! Thank god,” Mirra wrote on Instagram earlier Thursday with a photo of him and his wife.

The Mirra family has asked for “privacy during this very difficult time,” according to WNCN.

Mirra was born in Chittenango, N.Y., and rose to fame as a BMX biker. He had his own video games, starred on reality shows like MTV’s “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” and still holds the record for most X-Games medals — 14 of which were gold.
“It’s not who wants to win the most, it’s who’s not scared to lose,” he wrote on his official website.
Mirra returned to the Syracuse area often, updating fans on his activities through social media. He raced in the Syracuse 70.3 Ironman in 2013, completing the bike portion in 2:23:59, before going on to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2014.