Search for answers in Tony Scott's death

LOS ANGELES -- Director Tony Scott loved fast cars, riding fast motorcycles and was even planning a sequel to his hit "Top Gun."

Yet on Sunday, police were removing his body from Los Angeles Harbor, hours after they say he stopped his car on the Vincent Thomas Bridge and jumped. Friends, fans and Hollywood were left to wonder what could have prompted one of the industry's more successful filmmakers to take an 18-story leap to his death. Scott, 68, left behind several notes to loved ones in his car and at another location, authorities said.

An autopsy was performed on the British-born director's body Monday. Coroner's officials say it will be a month or more before they determine the cause of death. The office is treating his death as a probable suicide, but spokesman Craig Harvey said doctors must review toxicology and tissue samples.

Scott may have been troubled by an illness that few associates knew about, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Two people close to him told the newspaper that he had been suffering from a serious physical ailment at the time of his apparent suicide, but they did not know the exact nature of the illness. One said Scott had undergone chemotherapy for cancer, the newspaper reported.

"The family asks that their privacy is respected at this time," said Simon Halls, a spokesman for Scott and his older brother, Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott.

Motorist David Silva told the Los Angeles Times that Tony Scott appeared to hesitate before climbing a fence on the bridge and again before leaping. He said fellow motorists at first thought it was an extreme sports stunt but realized Scott didn't have safety equipment.

Tony Scott, an avid rock climber, directed more than 15 movies that included such unforgettable sequences as the dog fights of "Top Gun" and the raw power of a runaway train in "Unstoppable." He worked with top actors including Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Robert Redford and helped influence a generation of action buffs.

Cruise, who starred in "Top Gun," the top-grossing film of 1986 at $176 million, and was working with Scott on the sequel, said he'd lost a dear friend. "He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable," Cruise wrote in a statement.

CBS, which aired "Numb3rs" and "The Good Wife," both produced by the Scott brothers' company, said "one of the brightest lights in the industry has gone out."