Woman Shows Up Alive 13 Days After Her Funeral

By Lindy West  |  August 23, 2013 | 8:00pm
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Yesssss, nothing like a good woman-shows-up-alive-13-days-after-her-funeral story!!! Sharolyn Jackson, 50, walked into a Philadelphia mental health facility all, “Mischief managed!” nearly two weeks after her family had held a funeral for her—and buried a body.

Her family was elated, but an investigation has now been opened to determine who is buried in the grave thought to be hers.
So far, city officials say they know the body is that of an unidentified woman who was found dead from natural causes July 20th on a West Philadelphia street, her body taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
When a social worker who knows Jackson — and her son — both identified pictures of the dead woman as Ms. Jackson, the Medical Examiner’s Office signed a death certificate, allowing an undertaker to remove her body for funeral services and burial.

City officials plan to exhume the body and continue their efforts at identification.

Now, obviously I don’t know any of the details here. The fact that Ms. Jackson’s own son mistakenly identified a strange woman as his mother is puzzling at first glance. But really, I don’t know, we don’t know the condition of the body, photographs are tricky, and faces change in death. I’ve seen a dead person whom I knew when they were alive, and it’s…not the same. Because there’s not a person in there anymore. I honestly think we underestimate how much our personality affects our physical appearance. You know how you can still tell identical twins apart, even when they’re hella fucking identical, because they just feel different? I know, I’m rambling.

But the important thing here is that Ms. Jackson’s friends and family have her back (it’s unclear what was behind her disappearance, but I hope it’s something the family can handle without too much strife), and the family of the unknown woman has another chance to gain closure with their lost loved one. Best of luck all around.

Woman Appears Alive 13 Days After Funeral [CBS]

Image via Robert Hoetink/Shutterstock.

 
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