Homeless Woman, 80, Finally Gets $100K Owed to Her by US

Wander Witter tried to prove her case for years
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2016 1:37 PM CDT
Homeless Woman, 80, Finally Gets $100K Owed to Her by US
Wanda Witter has been vindicated, finally.   (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via AP)

For years Wanda Witter, an 80-year-old retired machinist wandered the streets of Washington, DC, with three suitcases crammed full of Social Security paperwork that she insisted proved the government owed her a lot of money. People called her crazy and a hoarder, especially because she slept in shelters or on the streets. But when a social worker began looking into the case last year, she concluded Witter was correct, reports the Washington Post. That social worker got an attorney to investigate, and this week, the feds deposited $99,999 into Witter's bank account. She may be getting more. "I wasn’t crazy," says Witter.

The Post first covered Witter's 16-year predicament last week. She began collecting Social Security in 2006, but the check amounts varied wildly from month to month. Knowing something was wrong, she refused to cash them and instead returned them with the word "void" written across the front. In the meantime, she ran out of money and ended up homeless. Now she's found a $500 apartment, indulged in a pillow, and hopes to reunite with her four adult children and grandkids, whom she refused to let see her on the streets. (More Social Security stories.)

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