He was missing for eight weeks — now police say he was 'huffing paint' before he died

Danette Duncan frantically updated Stephen Duncan's Facebook page with updates that really weren't updates at all.

"Here is the missing persons flyer we made for Stephen."

The flyer says he went missing Dec. 3, was last seen at Medical City Alliance and included other identifying descriptors like the gap between his front teeth and the tattoos he had on his calf.

"I am seriously at my breaking point... How can someone just disappear off the face of the earth..."

"We heard from the detective again today. Still no word, no leads, no trace going into week 8. This is the father of my 5 year old and she misses her daddy very much."

Friday night, all the searching, all the wondering came to an end.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I must update everyone on Stephen Duncan. His body has been recovered." Danette posted.

The body of Stephen Duncan, 35, was found in a vacant lot on North Tarrant Parkway late Thursday night, just before midnight. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office listed his time of death at 11:11 p.m., the same time Fort Worth police received the call notifying the department that the body had been spotted.

"It appears the subject was huffing pant (sic)," said officer Jimmy Pollozani, a Fort Worth police spokesman, in an email. Officers found paint cans near Stephen Duncan's body.

The lot in which his body was found is less than a quarter-mile from Keller Fossil Ridge High School and about a mile and a half from the hospital where Duncan was last seen.

The medical examiner's office has not listed an official cause or manner of death.

Matthew Martinez: 817-390-7667; @MCTinez817

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 11:39 AM with the headline "He was missing for eight weeks — now police say he was 'huffing paint' before he died."