Some stories sidestep fiction altogether and land squarely in the realm of the improbable. Case in point: police in Puno, Peru, recently encountered a man nonchalantly carrying an 800-year-old mummy—nestled in a repurposed food delivery bag—out for an evening with friends. According to details highlighted by Grivizo, what started as a run-of-the-mill patrol for officers quickly turned into a collision of romance, archeology, and generational quirkiness.
Roommates, Relics, and Relationships Beyond the Grave
Julio Cesar Bermejo, 26, wasn’t simply airing out some newly acquired artifact. He’d reportedly cohabitated with these ancient remains—dubbed “Juanita”—since childhood. Grivizo’s account describes how Bermejo, a former delivery worker, stashed the mummy in his old insulated carrier and spoke earnestly of his “spiritual girlfriend,” claiming she “slept” by his side in his room for decades. Most folks grow out of imaginary companions; Bermejo gravitated instead toward a housemate with pre-Hispanic credentials.
In a twist only history could deliver, experts from Peru’s Ministry of Culture examined the remains and promptly corrected any confusion—the individual was, in fact, male: at least 45 at the time of death and hailing from the Puno region’s Andean highlands. This revelation, detailed in the same report, reframed Bermejo’s three-decade relationship from the romantic to the extremely unconventional. One wonders what it must be like to learn your “girlfriend” is not just non-living, but also misgendered by several centuries.
A Family Secret and the World’s Most Illegal Show-and-Tell
As recounted by Bermejo in statements included by Grivizo, the mummy’s residency stretched back to his infancy, the artifact first entering the household through his father. It’s the sort of detail that invites a flurry of questions—exactly how did this become a bedtime norm? Did household chores include dusting a relic of the ancient Andes?
When police tracked down Bermejo and his group in the park, the story only deepened. Social media clips reviewed in Grivizo showed that friends had specifically requested an audience with the infamous roommate, pushing Bermejo to bring the mummy along. It’s not every day your peer group suggests, “Hey, grab the mummy for hang out night.” To his credit (or concern), Bermejo was quick to assert he had no designs on selling the artifact, a relevant point given ongoing efforts in Peru to thwart illegal antiquities trading.
Peru’s Tangle with the Past
The larger context, as the outlet documents, is Peru’s vast archaeological legacy. The country is awash in pre-Columbian treasures—Machu Picchu just being the tip of an ancient and sprawling cultural iceberg. Stumbling on relics in Peru may not be outlandish, but integrating them so sincerely into everyday life brings a degree of personal commitment one rarely encounters.
After authorities recovered the remains, officials from the Ministry of Culture stated their intent to safeguard and conserve them, emphasizing that relics of this magnitude belong in protective custody, not in domestic bedrooms. As for legal consequences, investigators are still determining which regulations might apply to Bermejo’s prolonged custodianship, a challenge given the novelty of the scenario—there’s little legal precedent for living with, and introducing as one’s romantic partner, an 800-year-old mummy.
Reflections at the Crossroads of the Absurd and the Ancient
Perhaps the most remarkable part of this saga lies in its ordinariness, at least to those involved. What, after all, prompts someone to normalize centuries-old companionship? As previously reported, the internet quickly seized on every bizarre facet—archaeological intrigue, a mistaken romantic connection, and a food delivery tote pressed into the most improbable of secondary careers.
From a certain angle, the whole thing is as much about what it means to assign value, sentiment, and narrative to the artifacts of our past as it is about accidental comedy. How do you explain to friends or neighbors that your most significant relationship is with a mummy? Is there a category for this sort of romance in the annals of anthropology?
In a world rife with stories that vie for our incredulity, this Peruvian tale makes a compelling case for the enduring strangeness of real life. For those curious where the line between the living, the dead, and the merely unusual lies—rest assured, someone is always ready to redraw it, preferably with a borrowed food bag and a very old friend.
