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Body found in southeast Houston positively identified as Julian Issac, medical examiner says

An autopsy confirmed what family and friends already knew, but we still don't know how the popular tattoo artist died.

HOUSTON — An autopsy has confirmed the body found Saturday in southeast Houston was 29-year-old Julian Issac who had been missing since Tuesday morning.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office is still working to confirm how the popular tattoo artist died. Police said there was no evidence of foul play.

Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said the body was found as volunteers were searching for Issac, not far from where he was last seen. 

Editor's note: The above video originally aired on Sunday, June 20.

At a Sunday night vigil, Issac's mother, Azilie Issac, told KHOU 11 she texted with her son the night he went missing.

"He calls me and says people are chasing him, three guys, one with a gun," Azilie Issac said. "I feel like a good person is really gone."

More than 100 people crowded outside the tattoo shop where Julian Issac used to work to support his mother and twin brother, William.

The community is still shocked by his sudden death and the mystery behind it. His mother and many other people want answers.

"I want justice for Julian and I don't want to hear you saying he was on drugs or something because I know my son," Azilie Issac said.

It was still dark outside when William Issac says his twin brother took an Uber at approximately 4 a.m. to a neighborhood near the Gulf Freeway and the Beltway in Pasadena on Tuesday. It is where Issac’s girlfriend lives, but he never made it inside her home.

“Ten minutes later, we were getting calls from him saying he was being chased. People said they were going to hurt him, going to kill him,” William Issac said.

William Issac says his brother began contacting family through a series of panicked phone calls, voicemails and text messages.

The last documented time anyone heard from him was 5:26 a.m., William Issac said.

“A text that said, ‘Call me, call me. I’m going to get killed,’” he said.

At one point, William Issac says their mother was on the phone with him.

“She heard him say, ’Sir, sir, sir, I’m not doing anything I’m just trying to get to my girlfriend’s house.’ From what it sounded like, he was hiding in a backyard," he said.

His brother says the Houston tattoo artist is loved by friends as was shown by the many who came to help in the search and attended the vigil.

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