Dead man at his own funeral: 'I'm alive!' shocks mourners and sparks a police inquiry in Argentina
In Alderetes, north of Cordoba, Argentina, mourners gathered for a funeral after a young man, 22, was run over by a sugarcane truck last Thursday. During the service, the supposed-deceased arrived alive and well, shouting to the stunned crowd, “I’m alive!” The extraordinary moment left the room in chaos and drew police into a case that would raise questions about who had really died and what had happened. Though prosecutors initially suspected suicide, they later classified the case as negligent homicide and ordered an autopsy to uncover the truth. What began as a tragedy unfolded into a maze of misidentifications that touched a morgue, a wake, and grieving families.
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A mother's claim and an abrupt release of the presumed corpse
The next day, a woman came to the police station claiming to be the deceased man’s mother. She reportedly recognised the body by its clothing and some features, and authorities released the remains to the family who had organized the weekend wake. The body would later be identified as Maximiliano Enrique Acosta, 28, from Delfín Gallo, prompting a re-examination of what had happened. The body was taken back to the morgue to try to confirm its identity.
The living son arrives, shatters the crowd
During the ceremony, the woman’s son, who has not been named in reports, turned up and proclaimed to the shocked crowd that he wasn’t dead. The mourners, already emotional, were stunned by this unexpected turn. The son later said he had been away on a bender for several days in Alderetes and knew nothing of what was happening at home.
Identity confirmed, but tragedy deepens
The body later in the wake was identified as Maximiliano Enrique Acosta, 28, from Delfín Gallo. Maximiliano’s family received the body and a funeral was held in his hometown on Tuesday. There was another administrative blunder: when the family were told he was dead, they were shown a different body first. Hernán, 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.”
Prosecutors open internal investigation into the mishap
The Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an internal investigation to determine how the errors occurred. The case highlights the fragility of death verification processes and the pain inflicted on grieving families. Officials say they will review procedures around identifications, autopsies, and morgue handoffs to prevent a repeat of such mistakes in the future.
