Kevin Bacon has paid tribute to a murdered man who shares his name.

The actor drew attention to the killing of a man in Michigan who had reportedly left home for a Grindr date on Christmas Eve, but who was found killed over the weekend.

“For obvious reasons I’m thinking this morning about the friends and family of this young person Kevin Bacon,” the Footloose star wrote on his Instagram page.

“His life was taken from him much too soon. His love was hair dressing. I bet he would have done a great job on this mess on my head. RIP KB.”

The victim’s father, Karl, said that he had chosen the name because he wanted his son to have the same initials, but wanted to avoid using the name Karl Jr. He said that the actor wasn’t as famous when the 25-year-old was born.

But the name also led to the attention from his namesake, who posted the tribute alongside a picture to his almost 1 million followers. It has since been liked more than 17,000 times and has drawn a vast number of comments.

The death also led to tributes from internet personality Jeffree Star, who shared a link to a crowdfunding page that has been established in the young man’s memory.

Bacon left home on Christmas Eve, telling friends he was planning to see a man he had met on a dating app. He was reported missing after not arriving for breakfast the following day, and his body was found on Saturday at a nearby home.