ANDERSON, Ind. — Police responded to a drowning Sunday morning along the White River in Anderson. Authorities found 32-year-old Kevin Markham’s driver’s license on the body and called his mother.
“They gave me my son’s ID card and it was my son’s driver’s license and they showed me a picture on a cell phone of someone wrapped in a body bag," said Natalie Markham, Kevin's mother. "All I could see was the face and they go, ‘is that your son?’ and at that time, yeah, that looked very much like my son.”
Markham started planning her 32-year-old son’s funeral services.
“My son suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is homeless so it made very good sense to me that he would be jeopardized with this kind of situation," said Markham.
She thought it was the second blow to her family in less than a year.
"On top of this we lost my older son ten months ago, so it’s devastation again," said Markham.
This week she had to break the news of Kevin's death to her family, including her granddaughter who just lost her father.
“She wanted to know how he died. She’s thirteen now," said Markham. "She ended up in the hospital that night because she had a breakdown. They put her on medication and she’s seeing a therapist now, but totally unnecessary grief, totally. For me, that’s what disturbs me the most.”
Wednesday, Markham said, Anderson Police found her son, Kevin, alive.
“First you have elation and then there is a little bit of anger because now this is not fair. I’ve been living for four days thinking that my son has passed away," she said. “Now who do we have at the funeral home? That was the next question, right?”
The coroner said it was 27-year-old Andrew Mason. Markham said her son and Mason knew each other.
She also said when she went to visit the body at the morgue, she didn’t have privacy and it wasn’t well lit, so she couldn't tell it wasn't her son's body.
“I could’ve looked for his tattoos. I could’ve had better identification, done," she said "We came so close to cremating this young boy, believing he was my son. This is just a big, big mess up."
Markham hopes this tragedy brings about that change.
“We know what happened, we know the hurt it caused, now let’s figure out as a city and a county to make sure this never happens again," she said. "Let’s not do this to another family.”
Madison County Coroner, Adam Matson, offered this statement about the incident:
On Sunday October 8, 2023, the Madison County Coroner’s Office was requested by the Anderson Police Department to conduct a death investigation of a deceased male found in the White River within the City of Anderson. Deputies from the Madison County Coroner’s Office arrived and worked through the investigation process in conjunction with the Anderson Police Department.
The deceased, located in the White River, was initially identified as Kevin Gregory Markham of Anderson. This initial identification was confirmed by his next of kin in accordance with Indiana law. An autopsy was performed on Tuesday October 10, 2023 and the deceased was released to the funeral home of the next of kin’s choice.
On Wednesday October 11, 2023, the Madison County Coroner’s Office was notified by the Anderson Police Department of the possibility of a misidentification of the deceased after more information was brought forth. After receiving the information an individual named Kevin Gregory Markham and his mother were interviewed by detectives from Anderson Police Department and DNA samples were obtained to confirm a familial DNA match between Kevin Gregory Markham and his mother.
During this time the deceased was returned to the custody of the Madison County Coroner’s Office, fingerprints were obtained from the deceased and analyzed. Fingerprint analysis confirmed that the deceased was not Kevin Gregory Markham but instead Andrew Mason of Anderson Indiana. Notification to Mr. Mason’s next of kin was made and they have positively identified the deceased as Andrew Mason.