A loving son sent his mother a final goodbye text along with a grinning picture of himself before he tragically set himself on fire.
Jason Long, 39, burned himself to death in his work van in Billings, Montana US, on Sunday, April 30.
Mr Long's devastated mum, Phyllis Holloway, and stepdad, Tim Holloway have now spoken out about his final moments.
Mrs Holloway knew her son was having troubles but didn't realise the extent of his mental health problems.
Shortly before his death Jason sent his mum a text at around 4am, where he apologised for the pain his death would cause her.
It read: "I just can’t keep going on.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” he told her.
Mrs Holloway said Jason informed her that he regretted not giving her grandkids, or being more successful professionally and financially.
“I won’t tell you not to be sad,” he said.
Promising to send a picture of himself, a happy photograph to remember him by, Jason signed off the text with: "Love you. Good bye."
Mrs Holloway says she doesn't want Jason to be remembered as the man who set himself on fire.
"He wasn’t just a body," she told the Billings Gazette.
"He wasn’t just some random guy. He was loved. I loved him so much.”
Jason was born in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Billings with his family where he worked as a Damage Prevention Specialist for the Summit Utility Locating Services.
He met the love of his life Catherine Houston in the early summer of 2004, and the pair were married for 19 years and loved gaming and their pet dogs.
Described as a "private person" in a family obituary, Jason was a major Star Wars fan and loved the World of Warcraft, Star Trek and the Rick & Morty TV series.
His death isn't the first time the family has experienced tragedy, Mrs Holloway's other son, Justin, Jason's brother, died in 2018 under mysterious circumstances.
The family believe Justin was murdered but the police say they believe he took his own life.
Justin was cremated and his remains are with his parents in North Carolina.
In his final texts before he burned himself to death, Jason told his mum that he wanted to be placed with his brother.
The text to his mother wasn’t the only one Jason sent that morning, according to the Billings Gazette.
Jason also sent one to a trusted co-worker, urging him to call the police so they could deal with his body before somebody saw.
Jason had gone to the spot where he killed himself in a company truck. He wanted his friend to pick up the truck, but not until hours later.
“I really don’t want to (mess) you up,” he told his friend. “…I really, really don’t want you to see the results of what I’m going to do.”
Jason told his work friend where the truck would be, with the keys in the passenger side tool box.
Jason also said he loved his wife and didn't blame her for his troubles.
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