A Hypothetical Question: How Would I "Disappear"?

[ralph124c]

Suppose I wanted to disappear-I mean, make it look like I had vanished into thin air..but continue to live at the same place. Could I become invisible to the law? Suppose I did this: have a doctor fake a death certificate, and have my friends deliver an empty coffin to a crematorium. Then, my will is probated and my estate distributed. At this point, according to the US Government (and the SS administration) I am effectively dead.
So, assuming that I conduct all of my affairs in cash, and use a false identity, can I be said to have disappeared?
How hard woul it be to live this way..could I escape any efforts to identify me? One problem..having served in the military, my fingerprints areon file in Washington-how could I get these destroyed?

[Johnny L.A.]

Talking out of my arse here, but...

AFAIK, it's not illegal to assume a new name -- as long as it is not for a fraudulent purpose. But...

A death certificate is an official document. Faking one would be fraud. Also, you are still obligated to pay your taxes and SS contributions. If you don't, then that is illegal. And you probably could not get a job without a Social Security number, which means that you would have to get one fraudulently (illegal).

How would you legally disappear? I don't know. This is coming right off the top of my head. (Funny, how "Off the top of my head" and "Out of my arse" mean the similar things.) You could liquidate all of your assets. (I wouldn't carry all of that cash around in my city!) Cancel your credit cards and destroy them. Take menial jobs where they aren't too concerned about keeping SS records. Move to a different country and become an illegal alien. A third-world country would probably be the best, since your money might go farther there and you might be more likely to "pay for privacy". I saw one of those crime shows on TV, and a murderer went to American Samoa and became an inter-island pilot. It took authorities a long time to track him down (yes, he had assumed a different identity and changed his appearance). If no one is looking for you, it's easier to disappear. Keep a low profile.

[refusal]

If you think what identifies you to the state, it's basically (a) your name, (b) your social security number, drivers license number, etc, (c) any photos held by passport/drivers licensing/law enforcement agencies, (d) fingerprints/DNA samples, (e) people pointing at you and saying "that's ralph124c".

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Well, simple enough. Just go away.

When you think about it, you're only identified by your records if you keep them and show them to people. Simply burn all your documents and go somewhere different. Break all ties, and uproot to somewhere else.

Poof! For all intents and purposes, you've disappeared my friend.

You don't have to provide a definitive answer to what happened to you (like faking your own death/cremation), just be gone, and never speak of your 'former self' again. Like refusal said, in this case the only thing tying the new you to the old you is fingerprints or DNA on file somewhere.

Now, to start your 'new life' somewhere else, you'd probably need new documents to some degree, which is starting to get closer to fraud. Then the question becomes, "How do I start a new idfentity?" ...the disappearing part is easy.

[sailorbychance]

Go to Idaho. Period.

[mrbuddylee]

Is it 15 years that someone needs to be missing and assumed dead before they're declared dead? That'd be one way around it.

I've also often thought about this, and if I did it, I would probably leave everything how it is, Credit cards, etc, and slowly drain my savings and checking accounts, so nothing was overly suspecious (damn I can't spell). Get in the car, drive to Mexico, dump the car and start over there.

Now, if I needed to disappear right away then things would be a bit different. I would use my CC to buy as much as possible drain all the bank accounts I've got, and sell everything I could. Try to find an old car to pay cash for, and again, sneak down into Mexico and head south from there...

If you wanted to stay in the same place... Well, I don't know... If you don't have a job, and don't need money, it's easy enough to disappear from the government and most company's radars, just don't get a job, and don't drive. with no income, you don't have to pay taxes, so it's possible. But the biggest factor is being recognized.

With money, you can do anything...