(ReliableNews.org) – It’s not uncommon for police officers around the world to find strange things in their day-to-day work. Officers in Peru are definitely in the race for this year’s weirdest find, and 2023 is just getting started.
On Sunday, February 26, the Ministry of Culture of Peru released pictures of a mummy in a fetal position. The cadaver was inside a red bag that had the logo of the Uruguayan delivery app Pedidos Ya on it. The bag and its not-so-tasty contents were found when Peruvian police approached 26-year-old Julio Cesar Bermejo while he was drinking beer in the city of Puno at the Mantaro viewpoint, an archaeological site.
According to the New York Post, the mummy was between 600 and 800 years old.
Peruvian deliveryman caught with ‘girlfriend’ mummy in cooler bag https://t.co/hZrGJjLzLE pic.twitter.com/xhSWWwrdja
— New York Post (@nypost) March 1, 2023
Bermejo told the police his dad gave him the mummy and claimed it had been in his family for three decades. The Daily Mail reported Bermejo’s father brought the mummy home after he tried to donate it to a museum, but the deal failed for some reason. He said the cadaver sleeps in his bedroom at night next to his television. He calls the mummy “Juanita” and said it’s his “spiritual girlfriend.”
What Bermejo didn’t realize is that Juanita is actually Juan. The Ministry of Culture revealed the mummy was an adult male who died when he was about 45 years old. He measured 4 feet, 11 inches tall. On the day police found him with the dead body, he brought it to the archaeological site to show his friends.
Officials have taken the mummy from Bermejo and said they intend to preserve it. Peru is home to hundreds of archaeological sites that have revealed the existence of civilizations pre- and post-Incan Empire. Several mummies have also been discovered in the country, including one in 2021 that’s between 800 and 1,200 years old.
Bermejo is in custody while authorities determine if he committed a crime.
Copyright 2023, ReliableNews.org
