u/MuseofBadPoetry

Hi everyone. Sorry for seeking reassurance twice in 24 hours, but my brain just will not drop this topic, ugh. I'm someone who wants to believe in the afterlife so badly, but keeps finding reasons to shoot down the idea. This is another cycle of that.

Anyway, I was reading this article explaining all the evidence for NDEs being proof of the afterlife. It's pretty convincing, but one thing really jumped out at me, since it contradicts a common narrative. One commonly cited piece of evidence is that NDErs only ever see deceased loved ones on the other side. But according to this article, of the people who saw loved ones, "4% described meeting beings that were alive at the time of their experiences".

Now, 4% isn't a lot, but that's a non-zero number, translating to 3 people who saw living loved ones. This casts doubt on the claim that NDErs only ever meet deceased people, and I can only think of three ways to explain this inconsistency, none of which feel good:

1. These 3 people really did have NDEs, but didn't really see their living loved ones. What they saw were the "light beings" reported in other NDEs taking on a more familiar form (but of course there's no way to know if that's possible).
2. These 3 people thought they had NDEs, but were actually dreaming or hallucinating. This would cast all NDEs into doubt. If some of them are products of the brain, couldn't all of them be?
3. These 3 people didn't have NDEs at all and are fabricating their entire stories, explaining why they go against the common narrative. But there's not really any reason to think that, and I don't want to accuse anyone of lying.

Does anyone have more context or insight into this? I should probably clarify that I myself have never had an NDE, so I just have to trust the people who have. Like I said, I really want there to be something beyond this, but these types of inconsistencies really make me doubt. Thanks in advance for responses.

On February 12th, 1982, an individual was found dead at a construction site at 22nd Street and La Salle Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The cause of death was determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. This individual was initially assumed to be a cisgender man on account of their masculine haircut and clothing; however, they were ultimately determined to be female. There is some speculation that this person was a transgender man, though it's also entirely possible they were a cisgender woman with a more masculine presentation.

Physical Description:

• Body Condition: Recognizable face
• Estimated Age: 30-50
• Race: Hispanic/Latino, White
• Sex: Female (May or may not have lived as a woman)
• Height: 5 feet 9 inches
• Weight: 145 pounds
• Hair: Short, black hair in a "men's style"
• Eye Color: Brown

Clothing:

• Tan/white Town & Country wool jacket, size M
• Blue/white striped Stained Glass sweater
• Brown L'Avion trousers, size 30 waist
• Blue underwear
• White socks with red stripes
• White/blue Nike canvas shoes

Tattoos:

This person had three tattoos, though frustratingly, photos of them are either nonexistent or have never been publicly released. Their tattoos have been described as follows:

• Yellow/orange tiger (also described as a lion in one report) on the left side of the abdomen
• Red scorpion on the right side of the abdomen
• Red/yellow crab with the letter "V" on the left buttock

That's unfortunately all the information there is. This case is handled by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, and if anyone thinks they have information related to this person's identity, please contact them at (323) 343-0512.

Sources:

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/4311 (Uncensored post-mortem photo under "images and documents")

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/main.html?id=1994UFCA

https://me.lacounty.gov/unidentified-person-detail/?caseNumber=1982-02067

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Los_Angeles_Doe_(1982)