You have to read it to believe it. It's been all over our news tonight. A Gaylord (Town to our north) girl that was in an accident in April that was killed with 3 others, and a friend who was badly injured and left in a comma. They looked very much a like. The girl starts getting better and things she starts saying coming out of the comma don't add up. Turns out that family and the coroner and everyone confused the identities and the injured girl was the one that they had the funeral for and the family who thought their daughter was going to survive finds out that she was really killed in the accident. Can you imagine being the family on either side?
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4975126
This must have made the national news...We caught the story last nite
This definitely made the "national" news. I have been reading about it on the web from Tokyo. How in the world could this happen? Okay, if an accident is horrific, it may be difficult to identify bodies. I thought they had something in this day and age called DNA tests. So much for technology.
Yes, it's been continually on all the news media since last night. My daughter and her family who live in Gaylord know the Gaylord girl and her family very well and attended the "mistaken" funeral. They are in the same church, and my grand daughter was in High School with her and participated in sports and socialized with her.
My grandaughter who is just in the processed of completing all her driver's training requirements has not wanted to drive since the accident and death of her Gaylord friend. I don't know how this change of events will affect her. I haven't been able to contact them in Gaylord since the news. Quite a shock and surprise for the whole town and especially the families.
It's hard to believe that such a mistake was made in identity.
Seems the families would have known the difference at least in the clothes each girl was wearing, and now they must feel pretty embarrassed that they didn't 'see' enough to identify their own child. Scary, to say the least. Tragic for sure, and count my blessings that I didn't have to go through something like that. All too many families do, and sorting through a dead childs clothes is not likely on the list of things to not overlook.
I didn't know DNA was on the list of checks in a death. Maybe it should be, but who would have thought..... ::)
Those families need our prayers.
Hey it made International news too ..
Really unusual, but when you saw the 2 pictures, they did look similar, and with the crash injuries maybe they couldn't really tell easily.
Who knows, maybe they had swapped jackets before the crash or something? Being girls they wouldn't have ID in their pocket.
Contrary to what we see on CSI, DNA testing is neither cheap or fast. It's only done when it's needed. Family on both sides were satisfied with the ID so no one checked further. ::)
Most bizarre, but once the initial wrong ID was made, no one saw any reason to question it. If no one knew, they could have checked dental records easy enough, but why do that when you can read the name off the tag. :-\
Bet it's not the first time it's happened, and wont be the last.
Ian
That would be very easy to do if they looked alike . I have a cousin who's brother IN law looks exactly like him .
I feel so sorry for both families I can't imaging the feelings that both of them are having. The accident was about 25 minutes from here and from what I remember their van was hit by a semi. It could have been as simple as the wrong purse sent with the wrong girl.