Reporter-News Archives Sunday, January 14, 2001 Internet makes switching identities easier By Jason Gibbs Reporter-News Staff Writer Pulling off an identity switch is a two-step sleight-of-hand, officials say. One identity must die, then another must be crafted. For a missing person to be declared dead, a family member — such as a spouse — must hire an attorney to file a motion in court to have a certificate of death issued, said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas law states that any person shall be presumed dead after they have been missing for seven consecutive years, unless it can be proved they are not dead, said Taylor County Judge Lee Hamilton. According to Texas State Library records, a certificate of death for a “W. Cox” was issued in July 1991 — seven years after Wesley Barrett “Barre” Cox disappeared. The records listed Barre Cox’s birth date, but did not specify the date of his death or the county in which he died. A former Abilene Christian University employee, Cox disappeared on a Jones County farm road in 1984. In December, he was recognized as he auditioned for a ministerial position at a Dallas church. In the past week, he has become the subject of intense media attention as the details of his life in the intervening 16 years have been revealed. Cox, who was married with a newborn child at the time of his disappearance, was eventually declared dead and his marriage dissolved. Hamilton said the procedure of declaring a missing person dead is commonly called a delayed death certificate. The most common reasons a family member would seek such a certificate is to allow them to receive Social Security benefits or insurance payments, or to dissolve a marriage. Before paying benefits to the survivors of a missing person, the Social Security Administration tries to obtain some proof the person is dead, said Ken Hargis, district manager for the Social Security Administration in Abilene. If the SSA is unable to obtain proof, it has a seven-year waiting period, which matches state law, before benefits can be paid. If a missing person’s account is dormant for seven years, “We can assume he is dead,” Hargis said. Cox has claimed he was found beaten and comatose in the trunk of a car in a Memphis, Tenn., wrecking yard. Memphis police and hospital officials have been unable to confirm the story. After waking from the coma, Cox said he took the name James Simmons, according to a Thursday story in the San Antonio Express-News. James Simmons’ name, birth date and Social Security number are the same as those of a rancher in the Panhandle town of Clarendon, the Express-News reported in a copyrighted story. Cox grew up in Canyon, which is also in the Panhandle. Rancher James Simmons told the Express-News the Internal Revenue Service audited him in 1987 and 1989 and that he had gotten calls from the FBI. He was told to put a notice in his credit file explaining that someone was using his Social Security number. Usually, people steal identities for three reasons, said Mari Frank, a California attorney who’s written a book on identity theft. Those reasons are to gain financially, to avoid prosecution and to exact revenge, the latter motivation being the least common. If Cox stole Simmons’ identity, the apparent motive was to start a new life. Identity theft has soared with the Internet’s rise, Frank said. Background search engines that allow identity thieves to get information on just about anyone are scattered across the Web. Some sites even offer instruction manuals on how to steal someone’s identity. Most identity theft begins with the perpetrator gaining access to the victim’s Social Security number, a task that’s not as hard today as it was in 1984 when Cox disappeared. For a $25 fee, anyone with Internet access can buy someone’s Social Security number on some sites using only the victim’s name and address. Then they can apply for a credit card with the stolen name — or give it to authorities when arrested or applying for a job. Beth Givens, who runs the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer privacy organization, said some identity thieves use these sites. But they more commonly resort to low-tech means, such as sifting through their victim’s trash. In December 1998, identity theft became a federal offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The first person in the nation prosecuted under that law was a Breckenridge bait shop owner who used an alias to pile up credit card debts and hide from a dishonorable military discharge. Thirty-nine states have passed their own versions of identity theft laws. Texas’ took effect in September 1999. Contact courts writer Jason Gibbs at 676-6734 or gibbsj@abinews.com. 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