Lain

Mistaken Identity Stuns Crash Victims' Kin
By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

(05-31) 15:09 PDT Indianapolis (AP) --


A couple sat by their daughter's hospital bedside for weeks after an auto accident until she came out of a coma and they realized she was not their daughter after all, but another blond-haired young woman injured in the wreck.


Their own daughter, it turned out, was dead and buried.


In a tragic mix-up, one family had been incorrectly told their daughter had died in the April 26 crash in Indiana, and another was erroneously informed their daughter was in a coma.


The two young women — both students at Indiana's Taylor University — looked remarkably alike, and the one in a coma suffered facial swelling, broken bones and cuts and bruises, and was in a neck brace.


The family of Laura VanRyn, 22, disclosed the mix-up Wednesday on a Web log that they had used to record detailed updates on the young woman's recovery.


"Our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear Laura, but instead a fellow Taylor student of hers, Whitney Cerak," the VanRyns said on the blog.


Cerak's grandfather, Emil Frank, said news of his granddaughter's survival was a shock. "I still can't get over it. It's like a fairy tale," he said.


The family said that as the young woman began regaining consciousness at a rehabilitation center in Grand Rapids, Mich., she said things that made them question her identity.


As recently as Monday, the VanRyns reported: "While certain things seem to be coming back to her, she still has times where she'll say things that don't make much sense."


In a statement, the two families said they took their concerns to hospital officials, and dental records confirmed that the injured woman was Whitney Cerak.


"Both families understand how this could have happened," said Bruce Rossman, a spokesman for Spectrum Health, which operated the rehab center.


Frank, a retired minister in Portland, Maine, said his granddaughter's parents declined to look at the body before the funeral. "They wanted to remember her the way she was," he said.


Officials at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college in Upland, Ind., about 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis, confirmed the case of mistaken identity.


"We rejoice with the Ceraks. We grieve with the VanRyns," said Taylor spokesman Jim Garringer. He said the Grant County coroner notified the school of the error.


Four Taylor students and an employee were killed when their van was struck by a tractor-trailer that had drifted across a highway median. Those in the van worked for Taylor's dining services and were preparing for a banquet for the inauguration of a new president of the 1,850-student school.


It was not clear who mistakenly identified the victims or how the error happened. The coroner's office did not immediately return a call. But the VanRyns, who are from Caledonia, Mich., said their daughter and Cerak, 18, of Gaylord, Mich., bore an "uncanny resemblance."


Most of the crash victims had funerals with closed caskets. A month ago, an overflow crowd of more than 1,400 people turned out for what they thought was Cerak's funeral in Gaylord, Mich.


The VanRyn family used the blog to provide progress reports on the young woman, reporting, example, that her hair was in pigtails or braids, that she managed to feed herself some applesauce, that she played a game of "Connect Four" with one of the therapists and did quite well, and that she performed an exercise in which her therapist gave her a word and she had to supply the word's opposite.


A call to the VanRyns was not immediately returned. An attorney for the Cerak family did not return a call either.


Prosecutors are weighing criminal charges against the truck driver, saying he may having fallen asleep at the wheel.


Laura VanRyn and Whitney E. Cerak

Article fr. this link

I'm actually pretty speechless enough to not know what to say. But in some ways, it's a little ridiculous because judging from the two pictures, they don't exactly look alike. Except maybe just the blonde hair.

*Lauren

Same cheek, same mouth, and remember that Whitney's face was bruised and she was in a neck brace. Her family couldn't remember her. Add to that it appears no-one identified the bodies (why?) and there's the mix-up.

SMG_fan

I don't really see any resemblance between the two ladies. I thought that to confirm a bodies identity that the body had to be positively identified by either a family member or by dental records (for bad disfigured bodies). So I really don't get how this could have happened.

When I first heard this story I thought it was a hoax, but I guess not.



Belinda

Ms Carolyn

I think that Lauren is right. If you take into account the swelling and bruising and various medical implements, it's understandable the parents could have made a mistake while the girl was still in a coma. What I don't understand is how the dead girl wasn't properly identified.

Lain

Here's your (possible) answer:

mcdreamylover

They should have had another family member or friend look for them to make sure it was there daughter and then none of this would have happened. Still sad though.

ColdLinoleum

When I first heard about this, I did not understand why no family member went to indentify the body. It is a necessity in order to prevent particular cases like this. Wanting to remember your daughter the way is a nice thought, but not realistic just in case she may not be dead. I feel for both the families and all the different emotions and grief they have been put through.

Orton

I read about this in a British magazine a few days ago. It's a shame really that all this happened because of mistaken identity. It's enough that one family were moruning the loss of their daughter when she wasn't even dead. Though I don't see how they 'looked' the same. But I guess the trauma must have been really bad - for them to mess up something like that.