Former Town midfielder Ian Redford was found dead in woodland near Irvine in his native Scotland earlier today, aged 53.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said in a statement: "At around 11.15am on Friday police received a report of a man's body being found within a wooded area near to Long Drive in Irvine.
"Officers are investigating and inquiries are continuing. A post mortem will be carried out in due course to establish the cause of death."
Redford joined the Blues from Dundee United in November 1988 for a fee of £200,000 and made 71 starts and nine sub appearances, scoring 12 goals, before moving on to St Johnstone in 1991.
Born in Perth, Redford started his senior career with Dundee, moving on to Rangers in 1980 for what was then a record Scottish fee of £210,000. Later in his career he played for Brechin City, who he also managed, and Raith Rovers.
During his time at Ibrox he won the Scottish Cup once and the Scottish League Cup three times, while he picked up runners-up medals in both the UEFA Cup and the Scottish Cup with Dundee United within the same week in 1987. He also won the Scottish League Cup while with Raith Rovers.
Having played for the Scotland U21s, he was called up to the senior squad on a number of occasions but was never capped.