Social Security Administration

Elise Allen, 13, of Temple Hills, Maryland, has quite the summer story to tell her friends. According to the Social Security Administration, the teen is deceased. “I’m right here. I’m living,” said Elise. Her mom told the News4 I-Team she found out her daughter had been declared dead after receiving denial letters for medical benefits. “Medical insurance was denied....

Each year thousands of people are mistakenly declared dead in the U.S. Consumer Investigative Reporter Susan Hogan and the News4 I-Team shows the journey back to the living can take years.