In the book I am writing, I would like the father of my main character
to have gone 'missing' in Mexico in the late 1960's or early 1970's.
This missing character is a diplomat, or foreign service officer, or
in some other official capacity. Because he isn't found dead or alive,
the government does not pay out any kind of compensation to his widow
or family and they are left to move back to the states and start life
over without assistance from the government.
The question is: Is this accurate? Or would the government give them
some sort of assistance?
And if the family could find evidence (twenty five years later) that
proves he died while engaged in his official duties, would the
government then pay out a sum, or provide a pension or some kind of
death benefit to his family?  Is there another circumstance in which
any kind of benefit would be withheld but later provided after
sufficient evidence was unearthed? I don't want him to be a military
man, but I do want him to be working in an official capacity for the
US govt when he goes 'missing'.

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 05 Jun 2006 16:08 PDT

Hello kateytd-ga,

You?ve asked an interesting multi-part question that will require
quite a bit of research. Dealing with ?presumptive death certificates?
and ?missing body? determinations is a complex subject. Determining
the applicable laws, rules and regulations will depend on who has
jurisdiction. The scenario you?ve set up would require answering
several questions to be able to begin to research your question.

I suggest that you review the Google Answers pricing guidelines and
then either raise your price or adjust the parameters of this
question.

http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

All the best.

~ czh ~