The two-month-old death of 20-year-old Isaac Zarate of Clovis has been officially ruled a suicide, but Zarate's family continue to believe it was a homicide, rejecting the idea he would harm himself, the Clovis News Journal reported.

According to an autopsy report released by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, Zarate died of suicide by hanging, the News Journal reported.

Zarate's crashed vehicle was found around 6:15 a.m. May 15, and he was reported missing that day by family members, the paper said.

Four days later, utility workers discovered his body in a rural field about a mile and a half from the crash scene, the News Journal reported.

His mother, Leticia Zarate, told the News Journal that she had spoken with Dr. Ian Paul, the medical investigator who performed the autopsy, and was told his finding was based on photos of the scene and his examination of Zarate's body.

She said in an e-mail to the News Journal that Paul told the family that "when we have more evidence he will work with the proper authorities to change the suicide to a homicide."

OMI Associate Director Tim Stepetic told the paper that OMI will re-evaluate its findings if new information comes to light, adding, "We're limited by how much information that we get."

The autopsy report said Zarate had ligature marks around his neck from a piece of baling wire but had no other significant injuries, the News Journal said.

"If it's a homicide we'll work with the police or law enforcement to try to come up with some sort of time of death. In this case we didn't," Stepetic told the paper.

In the opinion section of the autopsy report, Paul noted reports that Zarate had been "described as acting agitated" before he went missing and that he reportedly "sent text messages prior to his death, which were described as suicidal in nature," the News Journal reported.

7:10am 5/21/08 -- Report: 20-Year-Old Committed Suicide: Preliminary autopsy says man whose body was found Monday killed himself.

A 20-year-old Clovis man whose body was found hanging from a utility pole on Monday committed suicide, according to preliminary autopsy results reported by the Clovis News Journal.

Family members, however, said they believe Isaac Zarate, who went missing following an auto accident on a Curry County road on Thursday, may have suffered a concussion that contributed to his death, the News Journal reported.

Zarate's body was found Monday afternoon by a utility worker in a rural field not far from where his vehicle was found abandoned after it collided with an unoccupied vehicle, sheriff's officials told the News Journal.

Curry County Sheriff Matt Murray said officials have not yet determined the time of death, the paper reported.

"There (were) no signs of foul play. It's consistent with what we thought it was," said Murray, who told the News Journal his office would not close its investigation until the state Office of the Medical Investigator issued its final report.

The man's father, Randy Zarate, told the paper that after seeing the vehicle his son was driving, he believes he might have suffered head and chest injuries.

"We believe that because of the crash that he really didn't know what was going on and that he had a concussion," Randy Zarate told the News Journal. 

A utility employee on Monday afternoon found the body of 20-year-old Isaac Zarate, who had left the scene of a two-car accident Thursday morning, the Clovis News Journal reported.

The body was found in a remote Curry County field around 3 p.m. Monday, but Curry County Undersheriff Wesley Waller declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body or Zarate's death, the News Journal said.

The cause of death is undetermined, but autopsy results are expected some time today, Waller told the News Journal.

Zarate was involved in an accident with an unoccupied, parked vehicle Monday morning, but he left the scene, and ATV and helicopter searches were conducted near the accident scene, the News Journal said.

His mother, Leticia Zarate, said her son left home for work at 5:45 a.m. Thursday, and his damaged vehicle was found by a passerby around 6:45 a.m., the paper reported. His last cell phone call was logged at 7:02 a.m. on Thursday, his mother said.

The crash site was approximately a mile and a half from where Zarate's body was discovered, Waller told the News Journal.

Zarate was a 2006 graduate of Texico High School, the paper reported.