A living man was pronounced legally dead in the eyes of the law after he disappeared for eight years from his rental home.
A judge upheld a 1994 ruling on Monday that deemed 61-year-old Donald Eugene Miller Jr. technically dead after he vanished from his Ohio home 19 years ago.
Miller has lost his Social Security number and driver's license as a result of what Judge Allan Davis called a "strange, strange situation." Despite the puzzling nature of the case, however, the judge insisted that the court had to uphold Hancock County court's previous ruling, Yahoo reported.
"We've got the obvious here," Davis said. "A man sitting in the courtroom, he appears to be in good health."
Every state has its own definition of what makes a person dead under the law, but in general, most classify a citizen as legally deceased if they've been missing for at least seven years despite extensive searches for their whereabouts. Since Miller was unaccounted for during an eight year period, he's technically dead in the state's eyes.
Miller said he was an alcoholic, and left his home during the pinnacle of his addiction. He told the court he'd returned to his hometown in attempts to pick up the pieces of his life.
"It kind of went further than I ever expected it to," Miller said. "I just kind of took off, ended up in different places."
Miller has the option of petitioning to have his Social Security number returned to him. But attorney Francis Marley, who is representing Miller in the case, told the Courier that Miller can't pay for another court hearing.
"My client's here on a wing and a prayer today," Marley told the judge.
Miller's ex-wife Robin requested the original death ruling so that her two children could receive state benefits. She did not appear in court on Monday.
"I don't know where that leaves you, but you're still deceased as far as the law is concerned," the judge told Miller.
Davis informed Miller that there is a three-year legal limit for reversing a death ruling, Yahoo reported. But Miller maintained he didn't even know he was legally dead until his parents informed him of the news when he got back to Ohio in 2005.
