Edward Dempsey Young, the talented and influential mandolin player for the popular Franklin County-based bluegrass band the Lost and Found, died early Sunday morning at age 52.

Young, who lived in Boones Mill, was a champion mandolin player who had claimed top honors at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention when he became a founding member of the Lost and Found in 1973.

The group's original members -- Young, Allen Mills, Roger Handy and Gene Parker -- were from Franklin and Henry counties and had played other types of music before forming the bluegrass group. They always claimed to have been "lost" in other musical genres until they "found" each other.

"I've lost part of me," said Mills, the last original member still playing with the group. "You're living with somebody for 33 years ... he is a friend and family."

Young's mandolin playing and baritone voice helped define the Lost and Found's signature sound. Young's playing was smooth and melodic, reflective of 1970s pop and rock influences.

"Dempsey played what he heard in his head; he didn't set out to copy anybody else," said Herschel Sizemore, a well-known mandolin player in Roanoke who knew Young for 32 years. "Once he got started playing out on the road, he played what was natural for him, which turned out to be a unique style. Allen's songs were always kind of country, so Dempsey played to what they were doing. Instead of playing straight ahead like [Bill] Monroe's music, he did a good job of complementing the vocals."

The band first recorded for Outlet Records in 1975, then achieved wider fame after it signed with Roanoke's Rebel Records in 1980. The Lost and Found is credited with pushing the barriers of bluegrass in the 1970s and '80s by incorporating many popular styles into its sound, including rock 'n' roll and pop country.

Young "searched for something to make the songs sound good," Mills said. "He created a style of mandolin that nobody has come close to."

The Lost and Found released several songs now considered bluegrass vocal standards, among them "Wild Mountain Flowers for Mary," "Love of the Mountains" and the humorous "Leftover Biscuits."

Young had been an instructor and supporter of Roanoke's FiddleFest event and missed only one show during the band's history. He even drove the band's bus on overnight trips, earning the nickname "All Night Man."

Young's last performance with the group was Friday night during a Christmas party at the Dutch Inn in Collinsville.

Funeral arrangements were still pending as of Monday afternoon. Young leaves behind a wife, Lynette, a son, two daughters, three brothers, three bandmates and legions of grieving fans, many of whom have posted their remembrances of Young at lostandfoundbluegrass.com.