Cudahy Man Allegedly Stole a Dead Child's Identity for 30 Years

A Cudahy man is charged with more than 30 years of identity theft after allegedly stealing the identity of a 'child' who died almost six decades ago.

A man is accused of stealing welfare benefits, getting a driver's license, even voting all using the identity of a child who died in 1957.

It's called ghosting.

Ghosting is a type of identity theft when the thief steals the identity of a deceased person, roughly the same age.

However 67-year old David Erchul was also living as himself, the entire time he was allegedly receiving benefits under another name.

The 11-count federal indictment includes charges for fraud and swindling, and theft of public money, property, and records.

Erchul has allegedly been using the child's identity since 1985 until this past June.

He is even charged with voting twice using the child's name.

Among the things Erchul was able to get: a social security card, multiple driver's licenses, social security and food share benefits, Medicaid and unemployment insurance benefits.

Indictment is not clear how Erchul obtained the child's information.

No future court date has been scheduled yet, but we'll be sure to follow this story as it develops.