Mourners Shocked to Discover 'Dead Man' Was Just on Vacation
A British man who did not tell anyone he was going on vacation to Australia came home to find they were mourning his death.
The confusion began in June, when 49-year-old Michael O'Neill, from Middlesbrough, England, made a last-minute decision to head Down Under without telling a soul.
His neighbors grew worried and called police, who broke into his flat and found no evidence of his whereabouts.
The situation grew even worse last week when his friends saw a death notice in a local newspaper. By an incredible coincidence, another Michael O'Neill from Middlesbrough had died — and both have brothers named Kevin and Terry.
"I went out on June 2 to stay with a friend and when I got back last Monday I found my door had been smashed in," the living O'Neill told Britain's Daily Telegraph. “My neighbors thought I had died so they got in touch with police who came and broke the door down.”
Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:34 pm
