Uh, shouldn’t that be “is expected to be”… “will be returned”… “family has turned to”…? Especially fr an AP story, breaking news.
If not, why not?
I agree that is is more natural. Maybe was was used to suggest something like:
“Plans may have changed since we got this information, but the last we heard, his body was to be taken to…”
Maybe the reporting was done by one of my fellow Democrats who is uncertain on what the meaning of is is. 
News outlets frequently write obituaries in advance for very important people. I’m thinking that that’s what this was. The AP, wanting to get this over the wire quickly, ran the obit they had on file without editing it for tense first.
I have no proof that this is the case, but the pre-funeral directions (lying in state, service at the National Cathedral) are standard, AFAIK.
I also agree that this tense usage sounds unnatural.
Robin
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040605/D8313V000.html
Here’s the AP link from where I saw it on the Drudge Report. They still haven’t changed it.
If there’s a change in plans for the disposition of the body – technically you read it here first.
I thought this was going to be about my pet peeve (OK, one of them) of the death headline always being in the present tense. “Reagan dies”. No, he DIED. He’s completed the dying process, it’s in the past. USE PAST TENSE, DAMMIT! They make it sound like dying is a hobby of his, and he might do some more dying in the future.
Revtim. Good point. I saw that headline today at CNN.com. Is ‘dies’ even a real word with regard to death? Does “die” even have a present tense without a helping verb? It’s “will die”, “going to die” or “died”, not “dies”. If you say, “I die at midnight,” isn’t that future tense?
I don’t know Askia. But headlines about famous people dying nearly always use “dies”.
I opened a thread about that a while back, maybe there were some answers there but I don’t remember them and I cannot find the thread.
Headlines are often present tense. It’s pretty standard and generally sounds better. Some quick recent examples:
Judge takes swipe at Kobe Bryant prosecutors, Police shoot and kill shoplifter,
Irate man on bulldozer wreaks havoc on Colorado town, Utah Judge Rules Polygamist Abused Girls, J-Lo Reportedly Marries Singer Marc Anthony, N.Y. Yankees Edge Texas Rangers 2-1, etc.
Complaining about “dies” in a headline as if it were an isolated case of improper verb tense is pretty strange.
No. In the this case the “had” agrees with “… a friend said”, or should do, and so is correct.
The other examples should be present, though.
The ‘said’ is not part of the quote, it’s part of the attribution. Whether it agrees with the verb in a quote is irrelevent. Easy mistake, tho.
Dan Norder. Agreed that the present tense usually sounds better, but “usually” is not always the case. I agree with Revtim that “dies” in context in a headline that says “SO-AND-SO dies” should properly read “SO-AND-SO is dead.” Writing headlines in the present tense is a century old habit to make written news sound more immediate / fresh / breaking – one pretty exlusive to print journalism. If you walk up to someone and say aloud, “Reagan dies” even seconds after it happened, it sounds wrong because it is wrong.
News headlines are always in the present tense, except when the story refers to a more distant past (“Martin knew about scandal, Tories say”).
Present tense is also used in headlines in French (“Harper demande de chasser les libéraux”), on those occasions they use a complete sentence, and in Spanish (“EE.UU. prepara un funeral de estado por Reagan similar al de Kennedy”).
Well, it’s a good thing people don’t go around talking in headlines then. But I can’t see singling out headlines about people dying to be treated differently from other headlines.
In the OP, the “had” is reported speech, not in a direct quote, so should have to agree with the “said”, at least in English English. I’m aware that American newspaper English allows this to slide, however.
This is true in American English, too. In reported speech, the verb tenses usually go “back” one (further into the past. Present becomes past. Past becomes past perfect. Past perfect remains the same. “Can” becomes “could.” “Will” becomes “would,” etc…)
e.g.:
“The weather is nice,” John said.
John said (that) the weather was nice.
“It’s been raining all week,” I said.
I said (that) it had been raining all week.
“I will go to the store,” Eve said.
Eve said she would go to the store.
There are some exceptions, but this is the general rule governing reported speech (aka indirect speech).