Recently, the body of an elderly homeless man was discovered in a discarded cardboard box behind the back of a fast food joint in downtown Kingston, Jamaica. Coroners were unable to immediately identify the man who had no identification on him. The only items found in the elderly man’s possession were a faded photograph of the Houses of Parliament in London, a dented tin can containing a small quantity of marijuana and a battered old guitar.
With no leads to go on, the authorities turned to Jamaica’s National DNA Database. When the results came back from the lab, the coroners could not believe their eyes. “I thought it must be a joke,” Jacob Chambers, the chief coroner told Now 8 News. “My colleague came running into my office waving a piece of paper in the air. ‘You’re not going to believe this’, he shouted. I told him to calm down and explain what all the excitement was about. When he told me, I couldn’t believe it.”
The results of the DNA test revealed that the old man police had discovered behind the fast food restaurant was none other than reggae superstar Bob Marley. “I stared at the results wide-eyed,” Chamber admits
“My jaw dropped to the floor. This had to be a mistake.” It had always been presumed Bob Marley had died from cancer in 1981 as he made his way back to Jamaica by plane from Germany. But if that was the case, why was his elderly body lying on a slab in a downtown Jamaican morgue?
Chambers could come up with only one explanation: “Naturally I concluded somebody was playing a joke on us, and told my assistant to label the body as ‘persons unknown’. This would mean he could be cremated by authorities and the death filed as that of an unknown male in his late 60s to early 70s. But it was then that things got really weird.”
That afternoon, the coroners office was visited by men in sunglasses. They were wearing dark suits and called themselves ‘government officials’. They confirm that the body was indeed the late reggae legend, and that Marley’s death had been faked back in 1981 on the request of the star who had grown tired of all the attention he was getting and just wanted to live the quiet life of a street busker in Jamaica.
The Jamaican government admitted going along with Marley’s plan, on the understanding they would receive the royalties from his most successful album, Exodus.
Chambers claims the government officials remove the body of Marley, along with the DNA results and the coroners report of death. They then left, warning Chambers and his staff to keep quiet about the matters are they would face – in Chambers words – “serious consequences.”
“I decided I could not stay silent about this, despite having no evidence because the government took it all away to a secret location somewhere,” said a defiant Chambers. “Bob Marley did not die in 1981, and I’m damned if I’m going to keep that a secret just because some shady officials told me to. The truth must be heard, even if that means the government losing the royalty rights to Exodus, which is a fantastic album by the way.”
Through Jamaica’s National DNA Database, authorities were able to identify the mystery individual. Upon initial discovery, the man had no I.D. He possessed a small amount of marijuana, a battered guitar, and a faded photo of what appears to be the Houses of Parliament in London.
When DNA results returned a positive ID for none other than Bob Marley, the staff at the coroner’s office were stunned. Chief coroner Jacob Chambers made the following statement:
“I thought it must be a joke. My colleague came running into my office waving a piece of paper in the air. ‘You’re not going to believe this’, he shouted. I told him to calm down and explain what all the excitement was about. When he told me, I couldn’t believe it.”
Bob Marley was presumed dead in 1981 after supposedly suffering from cancer. He was making his way back to Jamaica from Germany on a plane.
With Marley’s death already established, naturally Chambers thought there must be some mischief at play here.
“Naturally I concluded somebody was playing a joke on us, and told my assistant to label the body as ‘persons unknown’. This would mean he could be cremated by authorities and the death filed as that of an unknown male in his late 60s to early 70s. But it was then that things got really weird.”
Chambers stated that his office was greeted with dark suited men in sunglasses later that afternoon. They identified themselves as government officials and went on to confirm that indeed, the reggae legend was laying right there before them.
They went on to explain that apparently Marley faked his own death as he was tired of the attention and publicity. He instead sought to live a simple life as a street musician, busking for change.
In exchange for arranging the fake death, the Jamaican government would receive royalties from Marley’s popular album, Exodus.
According to Chambers, he was sternly warned by the government officials to stay absolutely quiet about the matter, or else there would be consequences to face. The men then removed Marleys body from Chambers office.
So why would Chambers come forward and risk having “consequences” leveled against him? Chambers made the following statement regarding his decision to roll the dice and let the people know the truth:
“I decided I could not stay silent about this, despite having no evidence because the government took it all away to a secret location somewhere. Bob Marley did not die in 1981, and I’m damned if I’m going to keep that a secret just because some shady officials told me to. The truth must be heard, even if that means the government losing the royalty rights to Exodus, which is a fantastic album by the way.”
An incredibly fascinating story and one that is bound to raise more questions. On a side note, it’d be interesting to find out if anyone had any street recordings from the real life Bob Marley busker!
Inform your friends!
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