A son and a daughter are opposing parties in federal court. At trial, the daughter presented evidence that her father has been missing for ten years, and that no one has heard from him in that time. The son testified that he received a phone call three years ago from a person that he believes was his father.
In the jurisdiction, a rebuttable presumption arises that a person is dead when a party establishes that the person has been missing and not heard from for more than seven years.
Which of the following is correct?
a. The jury must find that the father is dead.
b. The jury may find that the father is dead.
c. The burden has shifted to the son to persuade the jury that the father is alive.
d. The judge must instruct the jury to conclude that the father is dead.