Man Reunited With His Dad… 5 Years After He Cremated Him…
Police admitted “mistakes were made” in the identification process.
via the BBC
John Renehan has been reunited with his father, John Delaney, after spotting him on television – five years after he thought he was cremated.
Delaney went missing in 2000 and when a decomposed body matching his description was found in 2003 he was identified by a coroner. However, it has since emerged that Delaney had actually been put in a care home after being found wandering around the town with memory loss. Unable to identify himself, he was given the name “David Harrison” and placed in the care home where he stayed for eight years. His family reported him as missing but appeals failed to uncover information about his whereabouts.
The body of a man, which had similar clothes and historic wounds to Mr Delaney, was found in the grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary in January 2003. It was identified as Mr Delaney and a funeral was held.
More than five years after the cremation service, Mr Renehan, from Didsbury, saw a television appeal about finding the family of the man in the care home, who he recognised as his father. He contacted the authorities and DNA tests confirmed their relationship.
Asked how he felt when he saw him on the BBC Missing Live programme, Mr Renehan said: “I knew straight away that was my dad.”
The 42-year-old rang the program after the episode in April.
He added: “I think they thought I was some nutcase. That’s when I told them I thought I buried my father in 2003.”
In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said the identification mix-up was a matter for the coroner, who is no longer in the post. But a spokesperson said: “Greater Manchester Police accepts that mistakes were made and that Mr Delaney’s family has been through a traumatic ordeal.”
An investigation is under way to try to establish the identity of the man cremated in 2003
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