[Saad Khan]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...bcab1fbea.html

Mummified Jennings woman collected Social Security checks for years

BY MARLON A. WALKER • | Posted: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 3:00 pm


JENNINGS • A woman whose mummified remains were found earlier this year in the Jennings home she had shared with her daughter had been receiving Social Security benefits, the agency confirmed Monday.

"A search of our records shows that Ms. (Gladys) Stansbury was in payment status until February 2011," Mona Finch, the division director of the Office of Privacy and Disclosure at the Social Security Administration's Washington offices, said in an email.

Authorities have said it is unclear when Stansbury died. Relatives and friends said they lost contact with her after she moved to Jennings in 1993. She was last seen alive in 1994.

Her daughter, Gladys Bergmeier, 75, was found dead in the home in the 9200 block of Catalina Drive on Feb. 7 by police after a neighbor reported not seeing her. On Feb. 26, relatives cleaning the home discovered Stansbury's body, wrapped in plastic and a multicolored curtain.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...#ixzz1TwaO2Dcb

[@Aerodyno@]

If she's not reported dead, and I'm guessing being kept in a mummified state like that, she wasn't, who would know when to stop payment?

Actually, the way government agencies are turning to ATM cards to issue payments could increase this. With checks there was some form of physical presence needed for proof of existence (even if in this case it was ignored). Now one just needs to know somebody's PIN number. Heck, depending on what type of payment you're filing for, you can now do it online.