Ohio Told Man That He Must Stay Legally Dead

When a dead man is found alive and well (and ahem, not a zombie), does he remain dead? He does, according to Ohio.

Here's the strange story of Donald Miller, who was declared dead, then found alive, then told by a judge that he has to stay legally dead. Confused? Read on.

The story, according to ABC News, began when Donald Miller of Ohio disappeared in 1986 after losing his job. He left behind his wife and two children. Years later, his wife sought to have him declared legally dead so she could collect his Social Security benefits for their two minors. In 1994, Miller was declared dead.

Fast forward to today, when Miller came back to Ohio and tried to re-establish his social security number. He went up to the judge, who said that according to Ohio legal statute, there could be no changes to death rulings after three years have passed.

So, according to the State of Ohio, Donald Miller is (legally) dead and must remain so, despite that the man is still walking around amongst the living.

(Photo: Hancock County Juvenile Court)

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I understand that the payments received by the family are now considered to have been obtained fraudulently because he is alive, and that the payees should be reimbursed. However, the fraud was not committed by the recipients. And ordering them to repay it would only punish them further, while letting him off the hook.

I think a fair and appropriate course of action would be to declare him legally alive, then force him to repay the funds directly to the government and the insurance companies. Then the responsible party is being held accountable and the innocent victims, his family, not only wouldn't have to repay the money, but also wouldn't have to go after him for owed child support.