The last time anyone saw 32-year-old Jeffrey Merriweather alive was in early June of 2019. Two weeks later, his body was found behind a house in Atlanta, always completely skeletonized. By the time the corpse was discovered, it only weighed 34 pounds.
Authorities believed that Merriweather was killed in a drug-related shooting … but that didn't explain his shriveled remains. In hopes of finding an answer, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office shipped the corpse via FedEx to a lab in St. Louis for additional testing.
And somehow, FedEx lost the package.
Three years later, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an update on the situation (although it's more of a recap of events since the body is still messing). The newspaper's Twitter account shared the link, as tends to happen on social media. And this time, a plucky FedEx customer service rep responded!
As of press time, the mysterious skeletonized body is still unaccounted for. As the Journal-Constitution also notes, FedEx may also be liable for a felony:
The bizarre episode also may have violated the law. Human bodies are traditionally transported across state lines by airline. FedEx said using its services to send human remains is prohibited, a fact that's stated in its user manual. The U.S. Postal Service is the only mailing service legally qualified to carry human remains across the country and then only under strict guidelines.
The Fulton medical examiner has not responded to questions about why the remains were sent with FedEx.
I look forward to the eventual true crime miniseries about whatever happened here.
Man's body still missing 3 years after Georgia medical examiner shipped it via FedEx [Asia Simone Burns / Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Image: PxHere
