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Pictured: Woman, 20, found alive in funeral home before being embalmed

A young woman who was found alive in a funeral home after being declared dead has been identified as Timesha Beauchamp.

Ms Beauchamp was said to have died at her suburban home in Detroit and was ready to be embalmed when she was discovered alive and breathing at the funeral home, her lawyer said on Monday (local time).

“They would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it,” Geoffrey Fieger told WXYZ-TV.

The Southfield fire department acknowledged it was involved in a bizarre set of events on Sunday that began when a medical crew was summoned to Ms Beauchamp’s home as she was unresponsive.

Timesha Beauchamp is pictured.
A young woman who was found alive in a funeral home after being declared dead has been identified as Timesha Beauchamp. Source: WXYZ

Paramedics tried to revive the woman for 30 minutes and consulted an emergency room doctor, the department said.

The doctor “pronounced the patient deceased based upon medical information provided” from the scene.

The Oakland County medical examiner’s office said the body could be released to the family without an autopsy, according to the fire department.

However, Ms Beauchamp was found alive more than an hour later at James H. Cole funeral home.

“Our staff confirmed she was breathing” and called a emergency medical crew, the funeral home said.

Fieger, who was hired by the family, later revealed the identity of the 20-year-old.

Inside the James H. Cole Funeral Home, where the woman's body was taken. Source: Google Maps
Inside the James H. Cole Funeral Home, where the woman's body was taken. Source: Google Maps

“They were about to embalm her, which is most frightening, had she not had her eyes open. ... The funeral home unzipping the body bag — literally — that’s what happened to Timesha, and seeing her alive with her eyes open,” Fieger said.

Fieger didn’t return a message from The Associated Press. Beauchamp was in critical condition Monday night, said Brian Taylor, spokesman for Detroit Medical Center.

“My heart is so heavy. Someone pronounced my child dead, and she’s not even dead,” Ms Beauchamp’s mother, Erica Lattimore, told WDIV-TV.

Southfield said it’s conducting an internal investigation but insisted that the fire and police departments followed procedures.

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