Madeline-Michelle Carthen, 52, was wrongfully declared dead more than 16 years ago. Today, the St. Louis, Missouri, native is still fighting to prove that she is alive and well.
In 2007, Carthen, a former entrepreneur and business technology student at Webster University, was gearing up to participate in a summer internship in Ghana when she found out that her Social Security number was listed as deceased. The matriarch’s dreams of traveling abroad quickly crumbled when she was denied financial aid for the trip due to the shocking issue. On paper, her year of death was listed as 2007.
“I laughed,” Carthen recalled of her reaction when she was first made aware of the shocking oversight, NBC News affiliate KSDK-TV reported.
“I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m sitting right here. I’ve been at school for over a year and a half. How am I dead? Is this going to affect my international internship?’”
According to People, Carthen’s Social Security information was accidentally filed in a “deceased warehouse.” She was listed on the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, “an internal database that collects records of dead people who have Social Security numbers,” the outlet noted.
Once Carthen’s name was uploaded to the Death Master File, her bank accounts, IRS information and Medicare were canceled. She was even delisted from the Department of Homeland Security. The frustrated mother is still fighting to prove her existence. Carthen was forced to withdraw from school and has not been able to maintain employment in the years since. HR companies can’t process payroll without her Social Security number.
The error has also impacted her ability to find housing and vote.
“I’m in Missouri, but I’m back and forth [between here and Tennessee], ” she told People earlier this month.
“I had to give up my home. I don’t have a place to stay. I can’t get a mortgage.”
Normally, if a person suspects that their Social Security number has been listed as deceased, they can bring an original copy of their passport, driver’s license, or other forms of identification to their local Social Security branch to have the error fixed.
Carthen said she followed all of the recommended guidelines and was given an “erroneous death letter” to show her bank, doctors, and creditors that the death report was an error, but the document has not been helpful.
In 2021, the St. Louis native landed a small victory when she was given a new Social Security number. She legally changed her name from Madeline Coburn to Madeline-Michelle Carthen in order to move away from the issue, but the name change did not provide relief.
She continues to run into issues because her old Social Security number is still tied to her new one.
“I don’t know how this is going to work out. I just keep advocating and fighting, and when I say fighting, within my spirit. Sometimes I wanna give up, but my faith is too strong,” the St. Louis mother told KSDK-TV in September.
“I don’t care if it takes 20 years. I’m going to still do what I got to do to make this situation right, not just for myself but for others.”
Carthen isn’t alone in her fight. According to KSDK-TV, more than 12,000 Americans are wrongfully listed as deceased by the U.S. government each year.
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