Woman was told dad had died - then received earth-shattering news

A Bay Area woman spent three years grieving over her father's death, until she discovered that despite official verification of his passing, he was still alive. 

Kylie Robinson long believed that her father, James, died on May 9, 2021, from a drug overdose at the Dahlia hotel in Tenderloin, after the San Francisco medical examiner confirmed his death to her at the time.

After learning the heartbreaking news, Kylie planned a funeral, had him cremated - spreading some of his ashes in Hawaii and putting them in jewelry - and got a tattoo to honor her beloved father's life. 

She even got married without her father there to walk her down the aisle, knowing she would never see him again. 

But her world was completely shaken by unexpected news that he was not dead, which she received two months ago.

Kylie's family friend was visiting San Francisco and spotted James walking down the street. The friend quickly called his mother to share the shocking encounter and put her on the phone with James. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported the woman told James: 'Oh my goodness, Jimbo, your family thinks you’re dead.' 

When Kylie found out, she and her sisters asked themselves, 'Are we delusional?' 

She dug into the situation by calling the medical examiner's office and requested pictures of the dead man who was allegedly her father. Once she saw the photos, she was certain her father was still alive. 

The medical examiner's office confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that they made a mistake. 

Angela Yip, an office spokesperson, told the outlet: 'This does not reflect the high standards of our office, nor the level of service the people of San Francisco expect and deserve. 

'We are committed to continuing to implement measures that ensure the integrity of our work.'

The office formally apologized to Kylie on August 7.  She filed a claim with the city and is going to take legal action.

Meanwhile, the medical examiner's office is still trying to identify the dead man who they mistook as James. 

After a more detailed look at the autopsy report, many details of the main - height, weight, wounds and tattoos - never even matched James. 

Kylie and her family went looking for James on July 10 and were finally reunited. They searched for more than 12 hours and walked eight miles to find her father.

But the damage done in the last three years is irreversible.

Because he was 'dead,' he lost his $900-per-month Social Security checks - his main source of income - and became homeless. 

Since he was thought to be dead, Kylie's little sister - who is under 18 years old - had been collecting survivor's payments. But now the Social Security Administration wants the money back. 

Following his falsely reported death, Kylie's father developed a severe fentanyl addiction.

Kylie told the San Francisco Chronicle: 'My dad didn’t have as severe an addiction before this mistake,'

'There’s been a significant decline in his health over the three years.'

His daughter learned that while he was on the streets in 2022, he was arrested. But when police took his fingerprints, he came up as a dead man, and they released him without any further digging into the situation. 

And now Kylie is left without her father once again. This time, he disappeared after promising to go to rehab. 

Three days before he went missing this summer, Kylie brought him to a hotel room because he wanted a few days to process everything before rehab. But when she came to get him on July 13, he was not there. 

Kylie and her family returned to search for him three or four times after that, but they were unsuccessful.

Her relationship with her father is incredibly meaningful to her. He was her primary guardian until she was 12 years old.

While her two sisters lived with their grandparents and mother, Kylie stayed with James in Antioch.

Kylie told the San Francisco Chronicle: 'He was the only parent that took care of me. The only one I trusted.'

James, who Kylie said suffered from depression, was shot in the chest in 2017 and was hospitalized for a month. 

He lost his housing and spent two years living with friends and acquaintances. 

He moved to San Francisco, where he lived on the streets, in 2019. But he and Kylie never lost touch. 

She said they got lunch together every few weeks, but he always refused when Kylie and her sisters asked him to go home with them. 

When he 'died,' Kylie, who was 21 at the time, had to come up with $4,000 to get her father cremated. She was able to raise almost half of that money through GoFundMe. 

The family made a shrine to remember him with. 

The determined daughter is not giving up. She plans to return to San Francisco to ramp up her search efforts by putting up flyers and offering a small reward.

She also started a GoFundMe to help support him. 

They have raised $1,450 toward its $5,000 goal.