The story of the exhumation of Alvin’s remains gained new life with the “discovery” of Mark Hofmann’s forged Salamander Letter. The forger is believed to have borrowed heavily from the affidavit of Willard Chase, published in the book "Mormonism Unvailed" in 1834. Chase states that the angel told Joseph Smith to bring his brother Alvin with him to obtain the plates. Alvin died on November 19, 1823, well before Smith’s second visit to the hill on September 22, 1824. Although Chase’s statement makes no further comment regarding Alvin, Hofmann’s forgery adds a claim that Smith said to the angel, “he is dead shall I bring what remains but the spirit is gone.” This statement reintroduced speculation regarding the exhumation of Alvin’s body for the purpose of satisfying the requirements for obtaining the plates. Jerald and Sandra Tanner point out that the only known source of such a requirement is the discredited Salamander Letter and suggest that Decker relied upon this letter as the source of his claim.