A family grieving the loss of their father were stunned when he walked in the door. It turned out police had mistakenly identified Elder Ocampomejia to have died in a collision.
When an Ohio family learned the tragic news that their father had been killed in a highway crash, they were devastated. Their tears of grief soon turned to joy when their father, Elder Ocampomejia, walked through the front door very much alive in a case of mistaken identity.
"I ran downstairs and opened his door, and I just told him, 'Do you know you're dead?' and he shook his head like, 'I don't know what you're talking about,'" Ocampomejia’s daughter, Jasmin Ibarra said, WKRC News reported.
The mishap took place on Wednesday when Ohio State Highway Patrol went to Ocampomejia's Cincinnati home and told family members that he was identified as the sole fatality in a crash on I-275 near Milford Parkway, WLWT News5 reported.
Family members told WKRC that they were in a state of shock and about to tell Campos’ 9-year-old son the horrible news when Ocampomejia walked through the door of their Cincinnati home.
Investigators said Ocampomejia was not involved in the crash and that they accidentally identified the wrong man. They didn’t explain what caused the confusion. As of Friday, police were still trying to determine the identity of the man killed in the crash, WKRC reported.
The incident that occurred on Wednesday around 3:40 p.m. involved two vehicles, a semi-truck, and a 1997 Chevrolet W4 Tiltmaster, driving in the southbound lanes of the interstate, near Milford Parkway/US-50.
Officials said the semi-truck failed to "maintain an assured clear distance," officials said, crashing into the rear of the Tiltmaster. The person was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger in that truck suffered serious injuries. She was taken by helicopter to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment. The driver of the semi-truck also suffered minor injuries, WLTW reported.
“I feel bad. It was a relief for us to know that he wasn’t dead, especially for me because we didn’t know how to explain that to my 9-year-old brother,” Ibarra told WKRC. “Like, we didn’t know what to say to him at all, but for the other family, it’s the worst news you can ever get.”
Sergeant Christina J. Hayes Ohio State Highway Patrol told Inside Edition Digital that “after further investigation, the Patrol has been able to confirm Elder Tomas Ocampomejia was not involved in the fatal crash."
“We are still investigating the identification of the deceased male operating the 1997 Chevrolet W4 Tiltmaster,” Hayes said. “Once the identity is confirmed and next of kin is notified, the Patrol will send a revised media release."
OSP would not provide details on what led to the mishap.
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