WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Dead or Alive?

Dead or Alive?

Woodstock, Vermont - April 21, 2003

In the town of Woodstock, folks get to know one another pretty well. Lately, Jim Pierce has earned the distinction of being the only man in town who's come back to life. "I was around the corner there last Thursday when somebody yelled dead man walking and I turned around and they waved," Pierce said.

It all started when his checking account dropped below its minimum balance, and the bank charged him a fee. "I looked down below and I have direct deposit on my social security which I started a couple years ago and I noticed it was missing," he said.  Then came a call from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center looking for government payment on his medical bills.

Frustrated, Pierce checked with social security. "They said you've been declared dead.  You were declared dead as of January 10th," he told Channel 3.

"It was somebody who typed in the wrong number," said John Rynne of the Social Security Administration.  Someone with a similar social security similar to Pierce had passed away, and a clerical error put Pierce out of commission in the eyes of the government. "So it's not something that happens often, but I do think it happens because we try to be very aggressive to prevent fraud and we don't want checks going out erroneously."

Very much alive, Jim Pierce promptly provided all the necessary identification, but that wasn't the end of it.  When he went to refinance a mortgage, Pierce learned he had to be the one to let credit agencies know he's still here.  A former banker, Pierce knew all the necessary calls he had to make,  but he's worried others might not. "For the average layman to have this happen to him, particularly on a fixed income with social security, it would be a disaster for them."

Caroline Allen - Channel 3 News