A Peruvian mummy up to 800 years old was discovered inside a cooler bag of a food deliveryman who referred to the ancient male corpse as his “spiritual girlfriend” whom he dubbed “Juanita.”
The Ministry of Culture of Peru released photos Sunday showing the mummified cadaver resting in a fetal position inside a red bag emblazoned with the logo of the popular Uruguayan takeout app Pedidos Ya.
Police made the shocking discovery after the deliveryman was spotted drinking beer at an archaeological site in the city of Puno on Saturday.
The man, identified as 26-year-old Julio Cesar Bermejo, revealed in an interview with the local news outlet Noticias Sin Filtro Puno TV that he had been sharing his room with the centuries-old skeleton, whom he nicknamed “Juanita,” having mistakenly assumed it was female.
A pre-Hispanic mummy up to 800 years old rests in a fetal position inside a takeout delivery bag in Puno, Peru. Puno TV/AFP via Getty Images
Julio Cesar Bermejo said he had been sharing his room with the mummy, whom he dubbed “Juanita” and referred to as his “spiritual girlfriend.” Puno TV/AFP via Getty Images“It sleeps in my bedroom, with me. There’s my bed, the TV set and next to it, there’s Juanita,” Bermejo explained. “I take care of it. It’s like, if you’ll pardon the expression, as if it were my spiritual girlfriend.”
Bermejo said the mummy was given to him by his father and had been in their family for 30 years, but he did not explain where or how his dad had obtained the artifact.
On Saturday, the deliveryman brought the mummified cadaver to the deserted archaeological site in Puno to show it off to his friends over beers. He denied trying to sell “Juanita.”
Experts said the mummified remains were not of a woman, but of a 45-year-old man who died between 600 and 800 years ago. Puno TV/AFP via Getty ImagesPolice who were called to the scene seized the mummy and handed it over to Peru’s Ministry of Culture.
Officials stated that the pre-Hispanic mummy was, in fact, of an adult male measuring 4 feet, 11 inches tall, who died around age 45 sometime between 600 and 800 years ago.
“It’s not a Juanita, it’s a Juan,” an expert at the ministry quipped.
The deliveryman said the mummy had been in his family for 30 years and that he took it out of the house Saturday to show his friends. Puno TV/AFP via Getty ImagesBermejo and his two friends were detained on suspicion of crimes against Peru’s cultural heritage.
