Man Found Carrying 800-Year-Old Mummified Corpse in Food Delivery Bag | Claims It Is His "Spiritual Girlfriend"

Despite us now living in a time with countless apps and services that are supposed to help us find our "special someone" faster, finding that elusive "someone" to spend time with, connect with at a spiritual level, and call your partner, has not gotten any easier.

But don't you lose hope. As they say, "love is in the air," and all you need to do is just breathe it in. However, sometimes that breath might stink. Especially if that special someone turns out to be a mummified corpse.

A mummified corpse—estimated to be between 600 to 800 years old—was discovered in a food delivery bag in the South American country of Peru, the nation's authorities revealed in late February 2023.

Photos released by the Directorate of Culture in Puno, Peru's southeastern city, show a skeleton lying in a red isothermal bag with a reflective inner lining, which is commonly used by food delivery companies. It features the logo of Pedidos Ya, a popular Uruguayan takeout chain throughout South America, reports NBC news.

The mummified remains were found in the bag of a former delivery man and two other men who were drinking at an old park in the city of Puno, according to CNN. The mummy was wrapped in bandages in a fetal position—typical of many of the pre-Hispanic burials in the area.

Several mummies have previously been discovered in Peru, which is home to hundreds of archaeological sites from various civilizations that existed prior to and after the Inca Empire. 

Noticias Sin Filtro Puno TV published an interview with Julio Cesar Bermejo, who claimed ownership of the body. The 26-year-old allegedly took the mummy from his family's possession to impress his friends.

Describing his relationship with the mummy, he told the media outlet: "It sleeps in my bedroom, with me. There's my bed, the TV set, and next to it, there's Juanita. I take care of it. It's like if you'll pardon the expression as if it were my spiritual girlfriend."

According to the ex-delivery driver, his father brought the mummified remains home nearly three decades ago. Scans of the corpse later found that the body belonged to a male—aka a Juan, not a Juanita—who was approximately 45 years old at the time of his death and 1.51 meters (about 5 feet) tall. 

According to reports by France24, the mummy—which is thought to be the remains of a man "presumably from the eastern area of Puno"—is now reportedly in the possession of the Ministry of Culture, which has designated it as a national cultural asset and a property of the state under national heritage laws.

The Peruvian Culture Ministry urged people to assist "in the defense and protection of our precious heritage, communicating to us any finding or attack on movable or immovable cultural heritage." Meanwhile, Bermejo is being held while authorities investigate the case. His two friends have also been detained.