Man Turns Up Alive at His Own Funeral in Argentina
Mourners at a wake in Córdoba province were stunned when a man believed dead arrived alive; authorities say misidentification contributed to confusion and a probe was opened.
A man who had been reported dead reappeared at his own funeral in Alderetes, north of Córdoba, Argentina, shouting that he was alive. The 22-year-old had gone missing during days of heavy drinking after another young man was run over by a sugarcane truck, authorities said. His mother had notified police that he was dead, triggering the release of remains to the family for a wake that proceeded as planned before the startling interruption.
Prosecutors initially suspected suicide but classified the case as negligent homicide and ordered an autopsy on the body. The mother claimed to recognize the remains by clothing and certain features, and authorities released the body to the family, who organized the wake. The scene in Alderetes drew local mourners and prompted questions about how the case had been processed, including why a potential identity mix-up had occurred early on.
The dramatic turn came when the person believed to be deceased appeared at the ceremony alive, telling attendees that he did not know he had died. He said he had been on a days-long drinking binge in Alderetes and was completely unaware of any death sentence or official declaration. The moment left mourners and law enforcement puzzled about who had been lying in the coffin, complicating the emotional toll of the service.
The man was then taken to the police station for questioning while the body previously released to the family was sent back to the morgue for definitive identification. It was later confirmed that the body belonged to Maximiliano Enrique Acosta, 28, from the nearby town of Delfín Gallo, raising new questions about the mix-up that had allowed his family to hold a wake for what they believed was their relative. His brother, Hernán Acosta, described the process as catastrophic from the start: "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."
With the two cases now understood to be separate, Acosta’s body was eventually returned to his family and a funeral was held in Delfín Gallo on Tuesday. The Argentine Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an internal investigation to determine how the errors occurred and to prevent a repetition of these kinds of misidentifications in the future.