A funeral intended to celebrate the life of 40-year-old George Kwame Antwi, a beloved steward of the Presbyterian Church, descended into a scene of anguish and disbelief on Saturday, January 17, 2026, after his family discovered his body had vanished from the mortuary.

In a shocking administrative lapse at the Assin Brofoyedur Mortuary, the family was informed—only hours before the scheduled burial—that their relative had already been interred three months ago by a completely different family who had mistaken him for their 75-year-old patriarch.

The discovery turned a high-profile funeral in the Assin Odumase community of the Central Region into a logistical and emotional nightmare. Mourners had travelled from across the country, canopies were erected, and sound systems were tested. Caterers had finished cooking, and undertakers were on standby.

However, the mood shifted from mourning to total confusion when the retrieval team returned from the mortuary empty-handed.

“Before the team could proceed, we were asked to report to the police station, where we were informed that another family had wrongly buried our relative about three months ago,” the head of the family, Asare Oduro, told Citi News at the grief-stricken family residence.

George Kwame Antwi, who died in September 2025, had been preserved at the Assin Brofoyedur facility for four months. Preliminary investigations suggest a body swap occurred late last year.

It appears a family looking for a 75-year-old man was handed the body of the 40-year-old church steward.

Despite the three-decade age gap, that family proceeded with the burial, leaving the 75-year-old’s remains still sitting in the freezer—unclaimed and incorrectly labelled.

The Antwi family now finds themselves in a peculiar state of limbo.

While the Presbyterian Church was prepared to offer a final salute to their dedicated steward, the absence of the casket has left the community in shock.

The family had already invested thousands of cedis.

The family is not only mourning the loss of George but is now grappling with the trauma of knowing his remains lie in a stranger's grave. They have issued a formal demand for:

1. Immediate Exhumation: A court order to retrieve Antwi’s body from its current location.
2. Full Compensation: Coverage of all wasted funeral costs and the legal fees associated with the exhumation.
3. Accountability: An investigation into the "mortuary attendants" whose negligence led to the swap.