Woman pronounced dead discovered alive in body bag at Detroit funeral home

Authorities defended the city’s fire and police services as an investigation was launched

The woman, 20, was taken to a funeral home in Detroit after being declared dead at her home. Reuters

A young woman who was declared dead at her suburban Detroit home opened her eyes at a funeral home as she was about to be embalmed.

“They would have begun draining her blood, to be very, very frank about it,” Geoffrey Fieger, a lawyer hired by the woman’s family, told Detroit’s WXYZ-TV broadcaster on Monday.

Southfield fire department acknowledged it was involved in the bizarre set of events on Sunday, which began when paramedics were summoned to a property where a woman, 20, was unresponsive.

They tried to revive her for 30 minutes and consulted an emergency doctor, the department said.

The doctor “pronounced the patient deceased based upon medical information provided” from the scene, it said.

Oakland County medical examiner’s office said the body could be released to the family without a postmortem examination, the fire department said.

But then came a startling discovery at the James H Cole funeral home – the woman was still alive more than an hour later.

Staff confirmed she was breathing and called an ambulance, the funeral parlour said.

Mr Fieger identified the woman as Timesha Beauchamp.

“They were about to embalm her, which is most frightening, had she not had her eyes open.

“The funeral home unzipping the body bag – literally – that’s what happened to Timesha and seeing her alive with her eyes open,” Mr Fieger said.

Ms Beauchamp was in a critical condition on Monday night, Brian Taylor, a spokesman for Detroit Medical Centre, said.

“My heart is so heavy. Someone pronounced my child dead and she’s not even dead,” Ms Beauchamp’s mother, Erica Lattimore, told WDIV-TV.

Southfield authorities said an internal investigation was being conducted but that the fire and police departments had followed procedures.