Mistaken Identity

This morning I was listening to Rob, Arnie and Dawn. I don't really like these people considering Dawn annoys the hell out of me but nonetheless, it's something to listen to since Howard Stern went to Sirius.

Curiousity got the best of me and when I arrived at work, I logged onto their website and found an archived story about 5 car crash victims in Michigan where 4 were killed by a truck driver. One of those victims was suppose to be Whitney Cerak and the only surviving victim in a coma was suppose to be Laura VanRyn. When Whitney emerged from her coma, Laura's parents noticed something odd about their "daughter"; she was claiming to be Whitney.

Laura VanRyn


Whitney Cerak


The parents, Law Enforcement, Coronor, Doctors, Nurses all confirmed that Whitney was in fact Laura. So, Whitney's parents buried Laura as their "daughter" and had a funeral for her. When the discovery was made that Laura was in fact Whitney, the correct people were notified and everything was sorted out.

"People have to keep in mind here that these two young women bore very striking similarities in their appearance, the same color hair, the same height, same body type, very similar facial features. It was understandable how this might have happened. But it happens so rarely and the fact that everybody's making such a big deal out of the story shows that it doesn't happen very often and do some sort of genetic testing to verify everybody that comes in your door when it's not necessary would not be a good use of resources."

I don't mean to be so insensitive here but I really don't see the similarities other than the color of the hair. These look like two very different girls and the article does not mention any facial bloating or disfigurement. I would imagine that it would be a highlight in the fact that they couldn't tell who was who due to disfigurement or bloating. That I can understand. So, let's assume that there wasn't any disfigurement involved; wouldn't you be able to tell if your child was "your child"?

I've done double takes on a child that resembled my own but I quickly knew that child was not my daughter.

I know every freckle, every scar, every hair out of place, every tooth position, every fingernail, position of her eyebrows.........on my daughter. A parent knows their child, knows the specific characteristics of their child. How can two people be similar but not twins and yet the parents were fooled into thinking that someone else's child was actually theirs?

I don't get it, I really don't.