The US government declared her dead. 16 years later, she’s still trying to prove she’s alive

KSDK / screengrab

Madeline-Michelle Carthen was given a Social Security number associated with a deceased person in 2007 — and for the past 16 years, she has been trying to prove that she is very much alive.

The 52-year-old Missouri woman made the discovery as a student at Webster University, when she was denied financial aid, she told KSDK. She was put on the Death Master File, a Social Security Administration (SSA) list that tracks deaths of those with Social Security numbers, but doesn’t know how she was put on the list in the first place.