Porter man rises from the dead — sorta

So all day yesterday, we were wondering what would happen with that whole 6/6/06 thing. And you know what? Nothing happened. But thanks to KPRC, we have a fitting story for the Day of the Beast: In Porter, a guy came back from the dead. Although he wasn't really dead. And it didn't happen on the 6th. But hey, close enough, right?

The story started Monday morning, when Billy Knox's family found him dead beside a bike along Loop 494 near FM 1485. Clyde Knox, Billy's dad, and one of Billy's brothers told authorities the body was Billy's, and the family geared up for Billy's funeral. About that time, Billy's sister Lisa Jackson found Billy sleeping — not dead — at her house. "You've alive, you've alive!" she yelled. Billy, naturally, was confused: "He's like, 'What are you talking about?'" Jackson said. It's kind of like that Bible story where Jesus comes back from the dead and the apostles are all, "You're alive!" and Jesus is like, "Whaaa?"

Turns out Billy had been at his girlfriend's house most of the time. Local officials didn't realize the body wasn't his because they didn't check the dead man's ID. "I felt it would be distasteful to rifle through his belongings with those two people there to identify him already," Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Metts told Channel 2. "That's why it wasn't done at that time." Ah, naturally.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that someone did die: 45-year-old Ronnie Franklin of New Caney. KPRC didn't report whether investigators know how he was killed.