Police were able to seize mummified human remains from a former delivery man in Peru, who may have kept the mummy at home for the past 30 years.
600-year-old Mummy in a Cooler Bag
According to Science Alert, the mummy was kept inside an isothermal bag, which the former delivery man Julio Cesar Bermejo used before to bring food to different homes.
Bermejo reportedly expressed that he has been keeping the mummy inside his room and that he considered the remains a spiritual girlfriend of some sort. According to him, when the mummy is home, he keeps "her" in his room; "she" sleeps with him; he takes care of "her."
He placed the remains inside the isothermal bag to show the mummified remains to some friends. According to the First Post, the 600-year-old mummy was discovered in the Puno region of Peru. Officials spotted three individuals drinking. He denied that he tried selling the mummy.
The BBC reports that the man kept Juanita, his name for the mummy, in a box close to the TV in his room. He further stated that his father owned the mummy for nearly 30 years. He did not go into detail regarding how his father took possession of the remains.
The body was in a fetal position and covered with bandages. According to experts, the body was around 600 to 800 years old. Moreover, its structure was actually that of a man and not a woman. The BBC further reports that the mummy may have been over 45 years old and 1.51 meters tall when he died. The man could have also been from the east of Puno, which is a Peruvian Andes region that is around 1,300 kilometers southeast of Lima.
Science Alert also reports that the culture ministry says it took possession of the mummified remains in order to protect and preserve its roots.
NDTV says that Julio Cesar Bermejo, 26, will be kept in detention as investigators look deeper into the case.
It’s the last thing you’d want a delivery driver to bring: a mummified corpse in a cooler bag.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 27, 2023
But when police in Peru made the discovery and questioned the owner, the story only got stranger ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/9ATZjjjL9y
Mummies Spotted in Peru
According to CNN, Peru houses hundreds of archaeological sites pertaining to numerous civilizations that emerged before and after the rise of the Inca Empire. The country also houses the famous Machu Picchu.
Fox News also reports that ancient Peru started practicing mummification over 7,000 years ago. Several mummies have been spotted across the country before.
In 2021, archaeologists were able to uncover mummified remains close to the capital city of Lima. The findings reportedly shed light on relationships and interactions during the pre-Hispanic periods, prior to the invasion of Spaniards in the 1600s.
RELATED ARTICLE: Ancient Human Remains from Colonial Era Unearthed in Peru, With Deformed Skulls and Likely Died from Syphilis
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