Breaking down a mindset that stifles excellence
Death is a part of life that we all encounter, and it's usually treated with great seriousness. Despite the finality of death, there are occasions when someone who has been presumed dead unexpectedly reappears. While most examples involve people actually faking their own deaths, there have also been cases where someone was mistakenly believed to be deceased.
Click through this gallery to explore shocking stories of individuals who resurfaced after being declared dead.
The Russian journalist, who had been living in Ukraine out of fear of retaliation for criticizing the Kremlin, was reported as having been shot and killed in his own apartment in May 2018.
But a day later, he showed up at a press conference. It was then reported that the journalist's death was faked in an attempt to catch those who were trying to kill him, according to Politico.
Best known by his alias El Chayo, Nazario Moreno González was a Mexican drug lord and one of the country's most wanted criminals. In 2010, federal police surrounded the site where El Chayo was reported to be hiding, resulting in a two-day shootout.
Police declared El Chayo dead, but because no actual body was retrieved, locals were skeptical. He ended up living undercover for years until the military found and killed him in 2014.
Known as the Blazing Car Murderer, Rouse was a British criminal who burned an unknown hitchhiker to death in an attempt to fake his own death in 1930.
His plan was unsuccessful. After his arrest, he told police that he made his decision after one of his lovers, a domestic servant named Nellie Tucker, announced she was expecting a second child with him.
The 18th-century American businessman, known for his eccentricity, notably faked his own death just to see how people would react.
About 3,000 people attended the mock wake held at his house (pictured). However, Dexter didn't see his wife cry hard enough, and beat her with a cane for not grieving him properly.
In a recent case, a Romanian man embarked on a bizarre legal battle to overturn a 2016 death certificate obtained by his wife. He reportedly left for Turkey in 1992 in search of employment and lost contact with his family.
After years without hearing from her estranged husband, the wife obtained a backdated death certificate in order to be able to remarry. In early July 2018, a court ruled that Reliu was, in fact, still alive, as reported by The Times.
Demara didn't fake his own death, nor was he incorrectly taken for dead in the usual sense. Known as The Great Impostor, Demara impersonated different people, from monks to surgeons and prison wardens.
Then he would disappear or "die" and return as someone else. His tremendous life inspired the 1961 film 'The Great Impostor,' starring Tony Curtis as Demara.
The American novelist best known for his book 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1962) faked his own death in 1965 after being arrested for possession of marijuana.
His plan consisted of asking friends to leave his truck on a cliffside road along with an elaborate note suggesting he had taken his own. Kesey fled to Mexico, but ended up returning to the US eight months later and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Susan Meachen, author of romance novels like 'Never/Ever' (2018) and 'Chance Encounter' (2017) was reported dead on social media in 2020. Her tight-knit community of online fans and fellow authors was shocked and devastated when someone claiming to be her daughter posted through her Facebook page stating that Meachen had taken her own life. However, they were even more shocked when Meachen posted on Facebook again in January of 2022 revealing that she had staged her own death. "There's going to be tons of questions," the post said, "Let the fun begin." Outraged friends and fans couldn't understand the situation. Meachen claimed that she had faked her death online to take time to work on her mental health, and was ready to return to writing. The explanation didn't satisfy the many people who said they had organized fundraisers and donated money to Meachen's family for funeral costs.
In 1925, the Australian entrepreneur and aviator, who faced mounting debts, faked his own death by drowning, but not before writing nearly 70 farewell letters.
However, suspicion arose that he was alive and a search was conducted. He was found eight days later in Auckland, New Zealand. As his debts continued to pile up, he ultimately killed himself the following year.
The British former teacher and prison officer was declared dead following a canoeing accident in 2002, but was found to be alive and well five years later.
He and his wife devised the plan together to collect life insurance, which would allow them to pay off their mortgage. Both were charged with fraud.
An Indian social activist and an early member of the 2011 anti-corruption movement (pictured), Sharma killed a homeless man in order to fake his own death.
In 2014, Sharma, with the help of his brother, used a belt to strangle the homeless man. His motivation was his wish to leave his wife and start a new life with his 25-year-old girlfriend. He fled to Bangalore, India, where he was caught a few months later.
The chairman and CEO of the WWE appeared in a 2007 segment of the show in which he was featured entering a limousine moments before it exploded.
WWE.com reported that McMahon was presumed dead. McMahon later admitted on the show that he faked his death to see what people thought of him.
The British politician, who served as a junior minister, is best remembered for faking his own death in 1974. He left a pile of clothes on a beach in Miami to give the impression that he had drowned or had been attacked by a shark.
He was presumed dead when he was, in reality, on his way to Australia to start a new life with his mistress and secretary. His plan was short-lived, and he was arrested a month later.
The Russian nobleman and influential landowner was found guilty of cruel treatment of his peasants in the late 1700s. What did he do to evade court?
That's right. He faked his own death. He bribed local officials and staged his own funeral. He then surfaced years later with the accession of Alexander I, who promised to elevate his political career.
The British occultist, magician, writer, and self-declared prophet faked his death during a trip to Lisbon in 1930. With the help of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, Crowley staged his death at the Boca do Inferno rock formation.
Upon faking his death, he returned to Berlin, where he'd been living at the time, and made a grand entrance three weeks later at the opening of his art exhibition at the Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf.
Could Hitler have faked his own death and fled to South America? There are theories that suggest he made a clever escape...
See also: Could Hitler have faked his own death and fled to South America?
These famous figures returned from the dead
Some purposefully faked their own deaths!
LIFESTYLE Mysteries
Death is a part of life that we all encounter, and it's usually treated with great seriousness. Despite the finality of death, there are occasions when someone who has been presumed dead unexpectedly reappears. While most examples involve people actually faking their own deaths, there have also been cases where someone was mistakenly believed to be deceased.
Click through this gallery to explore shocking stories of individuals who resurfaced after being declared dead.