Man declared dead called his family months after his own funeral: 'It was so surreal'

TW: Contains mentions of addiction, death

We all worry about those close to us; we want them to be well and we want to protect them from harm. However, we all have to die someday, so when the moment comes for someone close to you, you do your best to grieve the loss of that person and come to peace with the fact that they are gone.

You hear crazy stories of people coming back to life, like this man who fell off a cliff and lived to tell the tale. But this one really is strange: Tyler Chase’s family even believed that they had cremated him… until they realised they hadn’t.

This is the story of a family who thought they had put one of their members to rest until they discovered that he was still alive and somewhere else entirely.

Tyler Chase’s ‘death’

Tyler Chase is from Oregon, Portland. The 22-year-old was declared dead by a Multnomah County Medical examiner on September 11 2023. Yet, as you know, it wasn’t him. So, how did this happen?

It turns out that the body of a man was found in a parking lot, and the person’s death was determined as an overdose. Chase’s family were told it was him. A spokesperson from the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office later apologised for the mistake, and explained:

The misidentification occurred because the deceased person was carrying Mr. Tyler Chase’s wallet and his official temporary Oregon driver’s license.

Chase’s family, who had recently lost Chase’s mum in 2020, believed he was dead. His cousin Latasha Rosales, wrote online at the time:

My heart is so heavy today rest in peace baby cousin Tyler.

How the mistake was uncovered

The family organised the funeral, and cremated the body on 1 October 2023, taking away the ashes. Now, you may be wondering why no one questioned the fact that Chase had apparently died - especially in this sad way.

It transpired that Chase had been in a drug treatment centre for the last few months, and didn’t have any contact with his family. However, when he went to collect his food assistance benefits there was a problem: a check of his ID showed him up on the system as being dead.

Thankfully, the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office managed to track down him down and explain the situation.

A surprising FaceTime

The medical examiner’s office said they ‘deeply regret’ what happened, and put Chase back in touch with his family. It was Rosales who received the call: the office explained there had been a mistake at the centre that had processed her cousin’s body. They told her that the ashes the family had taken home did not belong to Chase, and to show her the proof they put the young man on FaceTime.

Rosales said ‘It was so surreal and it just didn't even, I can't even explain it’. The medical examiner’s office stated:

Going forward, all individuals who are found with a temporary state-issued identification must also have fingerprints submitted for positive identification, to ensure that this will never happen again.

The true identity of the deceased man found in the parking lot has been determined, but his family have asked for privacy.

Read more:

⋙ Man dies and comes back to life after ambulance runs over pothole

⋙ Man dies hours after going to the hospital complaining about toothache, here's what happened

⋙ This is the story of a woman who came back to life insider her own coffin in 1915

Sources used:

UniLad: Man who was officially declared ‘dead’ found alive months later

The US Sun: DEAD WEIRD I was officially declared dead by authorities – I had no idea until I handed over my ID and got stunning response