Alive at his own funeral: Argentine man turns up at wake and declares 'I'm alive'

A man who had been reported dead turned up at his own funeral in Alderetes, north of Córdoba, Argentina, shouting "I'm alive!" The 22-year-old had vanished during a days-long drinking binge, and his mother had alerted police that he was dead after another man was run over by a sugarcane truck. Although investigators initially suspected suicide, prosecutors subsequently classified the case as negligent homicide and ordered an autopsy on the body.

His mother claimed to recognize the body by its clothing and certain physical features, and authorities released the remains to the family, who arranged a wake. The son then astonished mourners by arriving at the ceremony alive, saying he had no idea anyone believed he was dead.

He told investigators that he had been on a days-long drinking spree in Alderetes and was completely unaware of the alleged death. His arrival prompted questions about who was in the coffin and led police to take him to a local station for questioning while the body was sent back to the morgue to confirm its identity.

The body was identified as Maximiliano Enrique Acosta, 28, from the nearby town of Delfín Gallo. But authorities initially handed a different body to the family, an error the Acosta family described as "everything wrong from the beginning." Hernán Acosta, Maximiliano's brother, said, "Everything was wrong from the beginning. First, they handed over the body without proper identification. Then they made me go to the morgue twice. We shouldn't have to go through this after everything we suffered." The confusion set off a chain of delays before the proper remains were returned and a funeral was held in Acosta's hometown.

The Argentine Public Prosecutor's Office said it had opened an internal investigation to determine how the misidentification and release of a different body occurred and to review procedures for handling remains in similar cases.