Audrina Patridge's Secret Tragedy: 'Hills' Star Lost Family Member To Horrific Murder

Since her days on the wildly popular MTV hit The Hills, Audrina Patridge has shared her life with fans. But the reality star  has kept one painful part of her past a secret.

The new mom, 31, lost her former brother-in-law to a senseless murder, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.

Before she married motocross racer Kyle Loza in 2010, Patridge's younger sister Casey, now 30, was engaged to Aaron Hershman. The former couple welcomed a daughter in January 2008, when Casey was just 21 years old.

Soon after their baby's birth, Casey and her fiancé split, and the young mother got engaged to now-husband Kyle the following year. The Patridge and Loza families, who all starred on VH1 reality show Audrina in 2011, never mentioned Aaron Hershman again.

But RadarOnline.com has learned that the father was killed in a tragic incident on February 26, 2012.

According to My Valley News, Hershman, then 28, was fatally shot between midnight and 2 am in Chino, California.

An unnamed person drove the victim to a home in the nearby town of Eastvale, where he was "dumped," the paper reported.

Hershman was pronounced dead in a local hospital at 4:11 am.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has not yet responded to RadarOnline.com's calls for comment.

Audrina also went on to have a family of her own. The brunette beauty and husband Corey Bohan welcomed daughter Kirra on June 24, 2016.