Consider northwest Ohio man Donald Eugene Miller Jr. the walking dead - as he has been since 1994.
Miller was ruled legally dead by a court in 1994, eight years
after he disappeared from his home in Arcadia. His appeal Monday
in Hancock County Probate Court to rescind his “death”
didn’t earn a change of status in the view of the law.
Judge Allan Davis, the same judge who ruled him dead nearly 20
years ago, said Monday nothing will change for Miller, who was
informed of his status by his parents upon his return in 2005.
Miller’s request for a reversal did not fall within the
three-year legal limit for challenging a death ruling, Davis
said, according to The Courier.
"We've got the obvious here. A man sitting in the courtroom,
he appears to be in good health," Davis said.
Miller fled the state to avoid paying child support, the judge
said in court.
"I don't know where that leaves you, but you're still deceased
as far as the law is concerned," Davis said.
One can be legally declared dead in absentia despite the absence
of solid proof of one’s death - for instance, the existence of
remains that can be attributed to the person - often after a
certain period of time determined by jurisdictional law.
Miller withheld most details of his past in court Monday, saying
he was an alcoholic and unsure of what to do once he lost his
job.
"My paycheck was being taken away from me and I had nothing
left," he said.
He worked in various places in Atlanta and Florida after leaving
Hancock County in late 1989.
"It kind of went further than I ever expected it to,"
Miller, 61, said. "I just kind of took off, ended up in
different places," he said.
He asked the court to reverse the death ruling so he can begin to
receive Social Security benefits and apply for a driver’s license
again. Both were canceled upon the 1994 ruling.
Miller, now of Fostoria, may have more luck with the Social
Security Administration in federal court, though his lawyer said
Miller does not have the resources to pursue such a challenge.
"My client's here on a wing and a prayer today," attorney
Francis Marley said.
Miller never contacted his two children upon leaving Ohio, he
told the court.
His ex-wife, Robin Miller, said she asked for the death ruling to
get his Social Security benefits for the sake of his children.
She refused to testify in the case.
He owed around $26,000 in overdue child support once the death
ruling was made, she said.
Though she sympathized with him, she said she opposed his request
for reversal given she does not have the money to pay his
benefits back.