UPDATED on June 18, 2018: This story was originally published in July 2017. We're bringing it back since it is summer tubing season in Central Texas, and Tracy Corum said recently she plans to release another tube in honor of her son.

She remembers how Justin was the DJ on last year's river trip.

He was dancing, as much as you can in an inflatable tube drifting down the Guadalupe River, while playing Texas country artists like Aaron Watson and hip-hop tracks his mom can't name.

Justin Hernandez and his mother, Tracy Corum, on a Guadalupe River floating trip in 2016. They decided to make it a tradition, but Justin was killed on May 15, 2017.

Mom, Tracy Corum, and son, Justin Hernandez, of Bellville, decided that day to make it an annual tradition.

One year later, Corum came back to the Guadalupe with Justin's tube. It's a blue-and-white River Run inflatable, the kind you find at Academy for 15 bucks with tax.

But Justin wasn't there. The 17-year-old was killed by an accidental gunshot on May 15 at his grandmother's house near Round Top. His uncle was arrested the next day on a manslaughter charge.

Now his river tube is back in Comal County as a mother's special memorial.

A friend recently suggested she return to New Braunfels, back to the river where they were supposed to continue their tradition. It'd be good for her.

Two months after Justin's death, she floated the Guadalupe again. His tube was tied to hers the whole trip, and carried a Yeti cooler marked with a rocking JH brand, one Justin had designed for himself.

Corum listened to Aaron Watson, drank cans of Angry Orchard cider and stopped at a rocky bank to snack on fruit and summer sausage — just like she did with Justin.

That day, on the river, Corum decided to make a special memorial. For so long, she's held tight to everything Justin, from the backpack he left sitting on the fireplace to the Skol cans his friends leave at his grave site. Now, she needed to let something go.

With a silver marker, she drew Justin's brand on the headrest and wrote a few messages along the side.

"If you find me, float me!"

"In honor of Justin Ty Hernandez"

"Signed his loving & proud Momma"

1 / 3This is the tube that Bellville mom Tracy Corum released on the Guadalupe River to float in honor of her son, Justin Hernandez. 2 / 3A tube that Bellville mom Tracy Corum released on the Guadalupe River to float in honor of her son, Justin Hernandez. Justin, 17, was killed by an accidental gunshot on May 15, 2017. (Submitted photo/Tracy Corum) 3 / 3Bellville mom Tracy Corum carries a tube marked in honor of her son, Justin Hernandez, to the bank of the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, Texas, on July 16, 2017. She let the tube float empty with the message, "if you find me, float me."(Submitted photo/Tracy Corum)

She wrote her name and phone number, and asked anyone who found it to contact her. She thought she'd get maybe 10 photos.

Corum drove along the Guadalupe early the next morning. She found a quiet spot where towering cypresses stretched over still emerald water.

She slipped off her sandals and took her first steps into the brisk river. She waded out on a bank of shallow rocks, gripping the black plastic handle of the tube. It was quiet. It was peaceful.

When she was ready, she kissed the headrest with Justin's brand and gently pushed it away.

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed.

Justin's tube bumped into two families from North Texas enjoying a day on the river. They pulled to the side, snapped a photo and sent it back into the current.

A little further downriver, a man from Louisiana was on a tube that was losing air when Justin's tube floated alongside. He hopped in, read Corum's notes and left it on the Guadalupe when he was done for the day.

That evening, a man who lives on the river found the tube and pulled it onto shore. He floated with it a few days later, and sent a dated photo to Corum.

The story raced around the internet, generating hundreds of comments and shares with Texans from all over trying to keep an eye out for the special tube. Corum has made a special Facebook page just to keep track of all the reported sightings.

She's headed back to the river soon, this time with another son and a few of Justin's friends. They plan to bring an extra tube, mark it with Justin's brand, and let it float on.