Supposed victim in fatal I-275 crash shows up next day, shocks family

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Jasmin Ibarra and her family were devastated when they heard what happened—that the father of her half-brother, a man the family knew and cared for, was dead.

The crash that killed him, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol, took place early Wednesday evening.

Elder Tomas Ocampomejia, 42, of Cincinnati, was driving on Interstate 275 when a semi-truck rammed him from behind. He was ejected from his vehicle. Police said he died at the scene.

Word of Ocampomejia’s death reached Ibarra and her mother not long afterward.

“She just went into, like, shock,” Ibarra recalled.

The two women started reaching out to Ocampomejia’s family members to let them know. Then it came time to tell Ibarra’s 9-year-old brother. He was about to leave for school at the time. The news would surely shatter him.

Then Ocampomejia pulled up in the driveway.

“I just went outside running,” Ibarra said. “I needed to see if he was dead or not[...] and it was Elder. And I just opened the door and said, ‘You know you’re supposed to be dead,’ and he just looked shocked and was like, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

The family contacted FOX19 NOW to set the record straight: Ocampomejia is alive and well.

OSP confirmed Ocampomejia was not involved in the crash and they are still investigating.

“It feels like someone came back from the dead,” Ibarra said.

For Ocampomejia, it’s been a strange few hours.

“It was crazy,” he said. “It was a long movie for me. It just feels like a movie.”

To clarify, a man did die in Wednesday’s crash, but the Clermont County Coroner’s Office says they have not identified him yet and are waiting on test results.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2021 WXIX. All rights reserved.