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Man who woke up in body bag dies two weeks later

Posted at 4:24 PM, Mar 13, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-13 16:24:45-04

(CNN) -- Walter Williams, the Mississippi man who returned to life after being pronounced dead about two weeks ago, died Thursday.

He was 78.

"They came and got him again around 4:15 a.m.," Williams' nephew, Eddie Hester, told CNN affiliate WAPT. "I think he's gone this time."

CNN learned about the death from Holmes County, Mississippi, coroner Dexter Howard. He was the same man who first declared Williams dead on February 26.

"There was no pulse. He was lifeless," the coroner said then.

He completed his paperwork, placed Williams in a body bag and transported him to the funeral home. There, something strange happened: The body bag moved.

"We got him into the embalming room, and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking," Howard said last month. "He also began to do a little breathing."

They immediately called an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and hooked Williams up to monitors. Sure enough, he had a heartbeat, so they transported him to the Holmes County Hospital and Clinics.

Williams was released a few days later, according to WAPT.

CNN affiliate WJTV reported the longtime farmer, family members called "Snowball," died at his home.

CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin and Suzanne Presto contributed to this report.