A man in his 40s, who was reported missing last year, and later “found,” then confirmed dead by police and his family who had him cremated, has shocked his family by returning home alive and well.

According to police reports, the man in his 40s went missing from his home in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, last year. His family filed a missing persons report immediately after and police had been searching for his whereabouts.

On June 21, 2017, police found an unconscious man in the Edo River in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward. His facial and body features matched those reported by the family of the missing man in his 40s. The man found in the river passed away shortly after he was taken to a hospital. There was no ID on him.

The family of the missing man, including his wife and two other relatives, were called by police to identify the body, which they did, confirming that “there’s no mistake” that this was him. The man’s status then went from "missing" to "dead" with drowning listed as the cause of death. His body was handed over to the family and subsequently cremated. That was the end of the story.

Until he came back to his family alive and well on June 6.

Following the man’s surprising return, his wife, who initially filed the missing persons report and who had personally identified the man as dead, called police to announce that her husband had returned.

In response, police launched an investigation, determining that the man found in the river was another missing person, a Tokyo resident in his 30s. His family had also filed a missing persons report shortly after the police had mistaken his body for the man in his 40s.

According to police, in cases when the family of a deceased person confirms the identity, further investigation, including DNA and fingerprint matching, is not usually conducted.

Police representatives have issued a statement following the incident, saying that they would like to use this case as a lesson to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

© Japan Today