Woman Shows Up Alive 13 Days After Her Own Funeral As Family Buries Wrong Woman

A 50-year-old woman from Philadelphia showed up at her home 13 days after her own funeral, at which her family had buried the wrong woman.

Sharolyn Jackson's devastated family buried her at Colonial Memorial Park, Hamilton New Jersey, on 3 August.

The woman had gone missing from her home on 18 July and her family was informed earlier this month that she had been found dead. Her death certificate was signed by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner. However, last Friday Jackson showed up alive at a mental health facility in central Philadelphia.

"I had to call my wife and give her the sad news over the phone you know, that they'd just found our daughter dead," her father Dave Minnie said.

Minnie was overjoyed when he heard his daughter was alive.

"You know you feel you're just about to get over it, that she's dead, then [her son] Travis comes here with the good news that she's alive," he told CBS News.

Two days after Jackson's disappearance, a body matching her description was found on a street in West Philadelphia.

The body was identified by a social worker who knew both Jackson and Travis.

"They showed (Travis) black and white photos. It looked like her," Minnie said.

The Philadelphia Health Department insists that it followed all the proper procedures.

Though Jackson has returned home, the true identity of the body buried by the family has yet to be established. An investigation is under way.

The only facts known about the buried woman are that she died of natural causes and her body was found on the street on 20 July.

Officials are seeking an order to exhume the body for identification.