Mystery over body mix-up

Apr 18 2009 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

THE MYSTERY mix-up of the bodies of friends killed in a car crash could take weeks to resolve.

Authorities are still trying to establish exactly who was cremated in place of Northumberland woman, Heather Brierly, who died while on holiday in Spain with her pals.

Heather’s loved ones thought they had seen her cremated after the horror smash, which killed her and two friends.

But her body was in fact lying in a mortuary having become confused with the corpse of her friend, Julie Wash, from Somerset.

It is feared the remains of Julie, 58, may have been cremated in Heather’s place.

But while Heather’s body has now been returned to Northumberland, a spokesman for the Bristol coroner yesterday said that the body had still not been formally identified.

“The process is ongoing and there is no fixed date, at this time, for the formal identification to be completed,” he said.