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Man buries son only to get call from him days later

It’s the heartbreaking phone call no parent ever wants to get, so when Frank J. Kerrigan was told his son’s body had been found behind a local store he was devastated.

The 82-year-old’s son, Frank M. Kerrigan, had been living on the streets, with staffers at the Orange County coroner’s office explaining the identification had been made from fingerprints.

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"When somebody tells me my son is dead, when they have fingerprints, I believe them," Frank J. told Associated Press.

"If he wasn't identified by fingerprints I would been there in heartbeat."

One Californian man has spoken out after he was mistakenly told his son was dead. Photo: AP
One Californian man has spoken out after he was mistakenly told his son was dead. Photo: AP

The grieving family then held a $26,000 funeral for Frank M, with 50 friends and family members flying in from interstate.

Devastated to be sending off his loved one, Frank J reveals he leaned over and touched his son’s hair in the casket as he said goodbye.

The family said their goodbyes in a heartfelt funeral - only for Frank J to receive a shocking phone call days later. Photo: AP
The family said their goodbyes in a heartfelt funeral - only for Frank J to receive a shocking phone call days later. Photo: AP

However just 11 days later, Frank J received a shocking call from friend Bill Shrinker, revealing that not only was his son alive, he was right there to speak to him.

“Bill put my son on the phone,” said Frank J.

The upset family then informed authorities, who double checked the fingerprints and found that they belonged to someone else.

“We thought we were burying our brother,” Frank M's sister Carole Meikle told The Register.

“We lived through our worst fear... We buried him. Those feelings don’t go away.”

A spokesman from the Sheriff’s Department has since apologised for any “emotional stress” and revealed they’re conducting an investigation into the incident.

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