This is a thing that happened: In 1999, WWII veteran and GE employee James Stevens died and was buried. A few days later, his widow Jean had his body dug up, and reinstalled him on a couch in her garage in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. She dressed him in a dark suit, white shirt, and blue knit tie. Ten years later, June Stevens, Jean’s twin sister, also died and was buried. A few days later, Jean had her body dug up, and reinstalled her on a couch in her spare bedroom. She dressed June in her best housecoat, and regularly sprayed her with perfume. Recently, police discovered Jean’s living situation and removed the bodies to the local coroner’s office.
“I’d go in and I’d talk, and I’d forget,” Jean explained to the AP, adding that she didn’t want her sister to be buried because she’s always been extremely claustrophobic. “That’s suffocation to me, even though you aren’t breathing.” Though her twin was dead, it was easy to forget that fact … if you just put a pair of glasses on her. “When I put the glasses on, it made all the difference in the world,” she said. “I would fix her up. I’d fix her face up all the time.”
You may have noticed a strange thing about this story: Jean Stevens has the same last name as both her husband and her twin sister. Isn’t that weird? She and June married brothers. Can you imagine marrying someone identical to the person your sibling married? Ew. Gives you the creeps.
Widow lives with corpses of husband, twin [AP]
Pennsylvania widow Jean Stevens, 91, lived with corpses of husband, twin [NYDN]
