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Cremated father reunited with family
Categories: Relatives, Fun & Activities, Health & Safety, Medical Conditions, In The News, Weird But True
Yes, you read that right. A little early for Halloween, sure, but this is one of those stories too weird--and creepy--to not be true. A Greater Manchester man who police and family thought was dead re-entered their lives after his son spotted him on television. The man, John Delaney, was believed to have died in April of 2000. Police accidentally misidentified a body as his and his family had a funeral for him, cremating the body of what they believed to be the patriarch in 2003.
Delaney had actually suffered a head injury and been admitted to a hospital days later. He suffered amnesia and was unable to give medical professionals his name. He was transferred to a home and stayed there for eight years before his son identified him while watching a show about missing people.
The son, John Renehan, said that while his father had been cremated, he "knew" the man he saw on television was his father. And he was right. Goes to show you have to trust your instincts sometimes. Now the family is happily reunited in what is truly an amazing story for the books. Sadly, the body of the person who was believed to be Delaney and subsequently cremated, has yet to be identified.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
queenoqueens 9-05-2008 @ 1:03PM
The first thing that comes to mind is.....would there be pictures of this man (with amnesia) circulated all over the country....especially to the families who report family members as missing? Unless I'm missing something, it seems that something like that would have reunited this family sooner. It's hard for me to believe that something like this isn't in place.
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spritesdelights 9-06-2008 @ 2:09PM
Why would they have notified police that he was missing if they already thought he was dead and cremated? Misidentified bodies happen all the time...this isn't that hard to believe, though it's a shame it didn't happen sooner.
hello 9-06-2008 @ 4:12PM
i agree...if i worked in that hospital unit...i wouldve taken his picture and posted it on tv
valley 9-06-2008 @ 6:33PM
It's a big world. This is easily believable.
Debra 9-06-2008 @ 7:59PM
First, if you read the story, they thought he was dead after he had been missing a few days. His funeral and cremation was three years late after the police found a body and said it wa their fathers. Sometimes people are quick to believe the worst and simply declare the person dead. And now there is a cremated body belonging to another family. They should have done dna tests when they found a body three years later.
Uly 9-05-2008 @ 6:54PM
That sounds like the plot to a movie.
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ken 9-06-2008 @ 2:05PM
sounds like some police department made an ash of themsleves.
ken
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Donna 9-06-2008 @ 2:27PM
Why didnt they use DNA testing to prove the dead body was INDEED that of their father, way back 8 yrs ago? That would have prevented all this from happening in the first place.
Looks like when an amnesia victim is first discovered, they would notify every police department and ask for missing persons to fit their age, sex, description, etc. That could narrow down alot real quick.
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Ima Grouch 9-06-2008 @ 6:59PM
Apparentlly the family didn't see the need to use DNA on the man that was cremated, nor to file a missing persons report.
They were convinced the man cremated was the father.
Even if the hospital had checked with missing persons, they would not have found him there since no report had been made.
In this case you can't fault anybody. Just a strange case.
Rollando 9-06-2008 @ 2:32PM
Perhaps to make it easier for the police, maybe it be a good idea all people with amnesia and those whose remains, identified or not, are cremated to have on file DNA records.
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Jacqueline 9-06-2008 @ 2:36PM
ALL I CAN SAY IS HOLY COW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jack 9-06-2008 @ 2:40PM
Good idea is to look into the wooden box before going into the kelm and identify the body!
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Interesting 9-06-2008 @ 7:44PM
Yeah, I think it should be several authorities looking into the box along with the funeral homes to make sure who is in these boxes. How would anyone ever know if criminal activity is involved? They should be made to sign off on a paper. ALSO, what happens if the family has collected and spent some large life insurance policy? They have to keep it because it's gone and they got it under fair circumstances so now the only thing left to do is find out who was really cremated.
katznmeowkatz 9-06-2008 @ 2:52PM
Ummmm, yeah. What happened to the family identifying the body? Have to wonder how the one who was cremated died. ??? And if the body was unrecognizable, what about dental records, etc.? I agree. The PD made an ash of themselves.
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virginia 9-06-2008 @ 5:17PM
It takes all kinds!
dempsuryy 9-06-2008 @ 3:49PM
why wouldnt he have some kind of ID on his person when he hit his head and ended up in hospital...this is bogus hokas!
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mswank 9-06-2008 @ 2:49PM
Why didn't the family make a positive ID of the body BEFORE they had him cremated????
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Ann 9-06-2008 @ 2:53PM
First thing that comes to my mind is who was cremated, and how about the family of the deceased and now cremated. This is just shameful and unexcusable. It's nice that the one family now has their father back, but I feel so sorry for the family that will NEVER know about their lost loved one.
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klngm4 9-06-2008 @ 5:07PM
Ann, I totally agree!
Brian 9-06-2008 @ 3:15PM
Regardless of the blunders that occurred for this to have come to be, I would just like to say how fortunate this family is to be reunited with their Father/ Husband. I am still in mourning as to my Fathers recent passing and he also was cremated. Oh what I would give to have any chance at having him back in my life. But being one of the people who helped carry his body from his home to the vechicle which took him away, I know this great miracle will not be my blessing.
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