Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope

Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope is a best-selling non-fiction book describing an incident in which the identities of two young female casualties were confused after a vehicle crash. It was published by Howard Books on March 25, 2008. The book lists its authors as Don and Susie van Ryn; Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak; and Mark Tabb; the former the parents of Laura van Ryn (the woman believed to have survived the crash but actually deceased) and the latter the parents of Whitney Cerak, initially declared deceased in the crash but later found to have survived. Mark Tabb is a former pastor whom The New York Times described as "the go-to guy when a collaborator is needed on books with spiritual themes."

Both the identity mixup and the book's release received worldwide media attention. It was the subject of a two-hour episode of Dateline NBC, a program of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and a segment featured on The Today Show. The book was ranked 1st place for two weeks on the adult non-fiction New York Times Best Seller list in 2008. The incident prompted the states of Michigan and Indiana to pursue legislation concerning stricter guidelines in the process of identification of bodies by coroners.