The family of a Wisconsin teenager mistakenly presumed dead and sent to a morgue while still alive has shared their painful, decade-long pursuit of justice.
Jake Anderson, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Minnesota, was found near the Mississippi River in December 2013 after leaving a party to walk friends home. A photographer later discovered him slumped over near the Stone Arch Bridge in frigid conditions — temperatures had dropped to 15 degrees below zero.
When paramedics arrived, they determined he was “obviously dead” without performing a full medical evaluation. According to the Star Tribune, a firefighter checked for a pulse under Jake’s arm, but paramedics—who had authority at the scene—declared him dead from 15 feet away, relying solely on a visual assessment.
The term “obviously dead” is typically reserved for cases with catastrophic injuries, such as dismemberment. However, Jake’s vital signs were later found to be detectable, though severely slowed due to extreme hypothermia. Experts say that in such cases, gradual warming can often revive individuals even with faint heartbeats or minimal breathing.
Jake was never taken to a hospital. Instead, his body was left in the cold for hours and eventually transported to a morgue, where it was determined he had died there—not at the scene.
His parents, Bill and Kristi Anderson, have fought for justice ever since, believing their son could have survived if paramedics had acted differently.
In March, they were awarded $6.4 million—not from the first responders, but from their former attorney, Robert Hopper, who had mishandled their original wrongful death lawsuit. The ruling, issued by Hennepin County Judge Edward Wahl, found Hopper committed legal malpractice, which prevented the Andersons from successfully suing those responsible.
Initially, their lawsuit named multiple defendants, including the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Police and Fire Departments, and HCMC Ambulance Services, alleging numerous failures in Jake’s care.
“We were wronged by so many entities in this endeavor,” Kristi told the Star Tribune. She and her husband said Jake was denied “a fighting chance to survive.”
Further deepening the tragedy, surveillance footage from the area had been turned off, and Jake was found without his shoes or coat. There were signs of a struggle, including drag marks in the snow and defensive wounds on his hands, leading to speculation he may have been attacked. Yet no suspects were identified, and no forensic evidence was found.
The Andersons had placed their trust in Hopper, a seasoned attorney and law professor, hiring him in 2015 to pursue a wrongful death case. However, he delayed filing the lawsuit, missing critical deadlines. Despite reassuring them the case was viable, he failed to ensure they were legally appointed as administrators of Jake’s estate — a legal requirement for filing a wrongful death suit.
Just seven days before the statute of limitations expired in December 2016, Hopper filed the suit. But two months later, a paralegal from his office revealed the Andersons hadn’t been formally appointed as trustees of their son’s estate. This oversight led to the case being dismissed in 2018.
Hopper later lost his law firm, surrendered his license, and did not contest the malpractice judgment.
Despite their recent legal victory, the Andersons say they continue to grieve the loss of their son and remain committed to honoring his memory. “He laid there in zero-degree weather for three hours,” Bill said. Kristi added, “They didn’t even turn him over.”
More than ten years later, they are still left with unanswered questions — and the haunting possibility that their son might have survived with timely medical care.
