In article <NZmdnQA776FlxOnanZ2dnUVZ_qCunZ2d@rcn.net>, singhals <singhals@erols.com> writes: > Can any of you Americans think of any reason why a 1977 > death would not be recorded where it occurred? > > A personal, on-site, search of the relevant state's death > records turned up absolutely no entry for the surname, let > alone the exact name, plus or minus a month of the known date. > > Mr X gave me his father's birth and death info when Mr. X's > grandson was born back in 1985. The family threw in other > details, such as where he lived, and how-come he died in the > same hospital where the baby had been born. Various > official records support this verbal information, including > an SSDI entry for the right name, born the right date, > residing in the right place, last benefit going to the right > place, and the SSN issued in the right place. The state has > no record of such a death. > > I wouldn't have thought a hospital wouldn't have filled out > the paperwork back in 1977, and I wouldn't have thought one > state would permit a body to moved into another state for > burial without appropriate wads of paper. > > Any ideas? Other than to dig deeper into the obits and > death notices for the right week? > > Cheryl Only thing I can think of is that somebody misspelled X, or that there's a more common variant of X, say X', and somebody insisted that X was X' (kinda like with my surname - most folks insist that it's _N_elson, not _M_elson). Apart from that, have you checked with the County Clerk's office in that jurisdiction? They frequently maintain their own set of records for events occurring in their locality. Do you know the funeral home(s) involved? What do their records say, if anything? Bob -- Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas ----- Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it. -- Henry Ford

Robert Melson wrote: > In article <NZmdnQA776FlxOnanZ2dnUVZ_qCunZ2d@rcn.net>, > singhals <singhals@erols.com> writes: > >>Can any of you Americans think of any reason why a 1977 >>death would not be recorded where it occurred? >> >>A personal, on-site, search of the relevant state's death >>records turned up absolutely no entry for the surname, let >>alone the exact name, plus or minus a month of the known date. >> >>Mr X gave me his father's birth and death info when Mr. X's >>grandson was born back in 1985. The family threw in other >>details, such as where he lived, and how-come he died in the >>same hospital where the baby had been born. Various >>official records support this verbal information, including >>an SSDI entry for the right name, born the right date, >>residing in the right place, last benefit going to the right >>place, and the SSN issued in the right place. The state has >>no record of such a death. >> >>I wouldn't have thought a hospital wouldn't have filled out >>the paperwork back in 1977, and I wouldn't have thought one >>state would permit a body to moved into another state for >>burial without appropriate wads of paper. >> >>Any ideas? Other than to dig deeper into the obits and >>death notices for the right week? >> >>Cheryl > > > Only thing I can think of is that somebody misspelled X, or > that there's a more common variant of X, say X', and somebody > insisted that X was X' (kinda like with my surname - most folks > insist that it's _N_elson, not _M_elson). Apart from that, have > you checked with the County Clerk's office in that jurisdiction? > They frequently maintain their own set of records for events > occurring in their locality. > > Do you know the funeral home(s) involved? What do their records > say, if anything? > > Bob > Four County Clerks in the state insist they do not keep copies of the deaths, they only collect the reports and pass them on to the state. In 30 years, I've never had a clerk admit differently. (g) Now, whether they actually DO have them and just don't (a) know it or (b) wish to admit it is an unknowable until/unless I can make friends with an employee, but seems to me the odds favor their not having them? I know which funeral homes were here, but the burial occurred out of state, and I don't know whether the interment funeral home picked him up at the hospital or another funeral home ... I haven't had time to do much, since I just found out there was no state record on Friday before Christmas. (g) Cheryl