No easy way to come back from the dead

A man who disappeared decades ago is finding out there’s no easy way to come back from the dead.

Donald Miller Jr went to court this week to ask a county judge to reverse a 1994 ruling declaring him dead after he vanished from his home eight years earlier. The judge turned down his request, citing a three-year time limit for changing a death ruling.

Hancock County Probate Court Judge Allan Davis called it a “strange, strange situation”.

“We’ve got the obvious here. A man sitting in the courtroom, he appears to be in good health,” said Davis. “I don’t know where that leaves you, but you’re still deceased as far as the law is concerned.”

Miller resurfaced about eight years ago and went to court so that he could get a driver’s licence and reinstate his social security number.

His ex-wife had opposed the move, saying she doesn’t have the money to repay the social security benefits that were paid out to her and the couple’s two children after Miller was declared dead. Robin Miller was reported as saying her former husband vanished because he owed child support payments of $26,000 (€19,200) by 1994.

Miller, 61, told the judge he disappeared in the 1980s because he had lost his job and was an alcoholic.