Man shocked to find 'dead' father alive

MANCHESTER, England, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A British man said he was shocked to see his father in a care home on TV five years after the family thought he had been cremated.

John Renehan said police told his family five years ago that his father, John Delaney, was found dead and the body was cremated, The Daily Mail reported Friday.

However, he saw his father living in a care home on a TV program about missing people that pleaded for anyone who recognized the man -- who suffered amnesia resulting from a brain injury in 200 --, to come forward.

"I sat down in shock. I was sure it was him straight away," Renehan said. "You know when it's your father. We look the same and have the same characteristics. It was like looking in the mirror."

Authorities said an inquiry has been opened into the identity of the man Renehan organized a cremation for in 2003.

Renehan, who said he has visited his father in the care home every day since DNA tests proved their relation, is demanding an apology from police.