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Donald E. Miller Jr. is legally dead, an Ohio judge explained to Donald E. Miller Jr. this week in court.The judge, Allan H. Davis of Hancock County Probate Court, had declared Mr. Miller dead in 1994, several years after he mysteriously disappeared, leaving thousands of dollars of child support unpaid. His ex-wife, Robin Miller, had requested the declaration at the time so that she could apply for Social Security benefits for their two daughters.In fact, Mr. Miller, 61, had simply drifted away to work in Georgia and Florida, he told the judge on Monday in Findlay, Ohio. Now, he said, he wanted to apply for a driver’s license and needed to reactivate his Social Security number.The judge noted that Ohio law does not allow a declaration of death to be reversed after three years or more have passed.“I don’t know where that leaves you, but you’re still deceased as far as the law is concerned,” Judge Davis told Mr. Miller during the 30-minute hearing, according to The Courier, a newspaper in Findlay.The newspaper called Mr. Miller “the most famous dead man alive.”In an interview, Judge Davis said that the case was decided “in strict conformity with Ohio law,” but that it had led to “a bizarre set of circumstances.”He suggested that Mr. Miller’s situation could lead the Ohio legislature to rethink the law. In the meantime, he said, Mr. Miller can appeal the decision or take the matter up with the Social Security Administration, which might have a different view of the law.“Every time you think you’ve seen everything,” the judge said, “something like this comes along.”
