"ST. PHILIP'S, NFLD. - The family of a Newfoundland man is overjoyed but looking for answers after he phoned during his own funeral to let them know he hadn't been killed in a Toronto commuter train accident after all.
Gilbert Squires of St. Philip's, Nfld., said he got a call on Sunday afternoon saying his brother Dane had been killed by a train.
Dane Squires
Police in Toronto said a sister had identified the retired welder as the man killed while crossing a GO Train track last Friday.
"The body was badly mutilated," said Gilbert. "We've been mourning in Newfoundland and in Toronto, everywhere. We're in total shock."
But during Thursday's funeral in Toronto, Dane Squires called his daughter Trina to report that he was alive and well.
"They [had] just loaded Dane's body in the hearse and the funeral director comes and says, 'Somebody would like to speak to you on the phone,' and Dane's daughter Trina took the phone," said Gilbert Squires.
"This was Dane on the phone, so she actually thought that she was dead or talking to a ghost or something and just about lost her mind."
Squires said it's not unusual for his brother to visit friends in Toronto for four or five days.
Dane Squires didn't realize there was any problem until he read his own obituary in the newspaper, his brother said. Then he called his sister's house to let her know he was alive, and found out his funeral was underway.
After the accident, Toronto police had appealed to the public to assist them in identifying the body.
A spokesperson, Det.-Const. Dave Stirling, told the Toronto Sun that Squires's sister viewed the victim's body and identified it as that of her brother.
"There must have been a likeness," Stirling said. "It certainly is an unfortunate circumstance. It's certainly a shock."
The accident victim's body has now been returned to the coroner's office and police are again trying to identify him. The dead man was between 45 and 50, with a beard and short, reddish-brown hair.
Gilbert Squires said his brother is taking his "death" with good humour.
"He said, 'I've got a new name. I haven't decided what it's going to be.' And I said, 'What would that be?' And he said, 'I'm either going to call myself Lazarus or Jesus.''""
Written by CBC News Online staff
