A man believed to have died 26 years ago is still alive, police in Tokyo said.
According to police, the decaying body of an unidentified man was discovered in a park in Komae City in December 1989, NTV reported Friday. At the time, police suspected the body might be that of a man in his 40s who had been reported as missing by his family. Members of the man's family identified him as their missing relative, so police closed the case and delivered the remains to the family.
However, the man was recently confirmed to be still living. Now in his 70s, he applied for social security late last year and was told that a certificate of death had been issued for him back in 1989.
After police confirmed that they had mistakenly identified the body, they submitted a formal apology to the family for having returned the remains of an unknown individual.
The man has not said why he never contacted his family for the past 26 years.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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602miko
Does he lives on the cage, basement, or he change his outlook ? sounds mystery? and came out wow !!!!
toshiko
If he was not a thief, he was working. He had to eat those years. There are many daily jobs in Japan. /Ninskiu for instance.
Brian Wheway
So where, what has he been up to for the last 25 years? this does not add up, has he paid taxes? has he been employed ? why did he just disappear for all of this time?
toshiko
@MocheakeMAR. 15, 2015 - 01:38AM JST Ran off with someone and figured he would be OK checking in now. Check him in to the state pen.
A couple of Japanese family culture, it seems, he did.
1 Iede ---- Run away from home
2 kakeohi --- Run away from home with a lover
Mocheake
Ran off with someone and figured he would be OK checking in now. Check him in to the state pen.
gokai_wo_maneku
Educator: thank you for the education. I confused the English of the pension system with social security. What you say makes sense.
gokai_wo_maneku
If the guy applied for social security, he must have been making the contributions all those years, or he would not get any. How could he contribute if he was dead?
tokyonice
Sounds like a time for great celebration , not condemnation.
slumdog
Actually, if it was a normal situation, the body were have also been cremated, meaning it will never be known who the original person was.
nath
I don't know how you can call this incompetence. The family identified the body as the man. This wasn't a time when DNA testing was widespread, and even now I doubt they would do DNA testing after a positive identification. This is an unfortunate situation, not anyone's fault.
Tessa
Awful. The same thing happened to my friend's cat. It was quite a shock.
Mirai Hayashi
So this family most likely paid for funeral arrangements, a grave plot, and a grave, and probably gave offerings to an unknown individual for 26 years because of a police error. I think they need to more than just apologize....geez, what great incompetence!
roosterman77
Next we'll read that he's actually a zombie and that the staff had thought his red eyes, sallow skin and groaning was due to cedar pollen allergy.