Declared dead in the nursing home, the woman was alive two hours later in the funeral home

A 74-year-old woman pronounced dead in a nursing home was found alive two hours later by funeral home employees who were caring for her presumed remains, a Nebraska sheriff’s official said.

Employees at the Lincoln funeral home called 911 and the woman was taken alive to a hospital, where she remained Monday, Lancaster County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Houchin said at a news conference.

There is no information about the woman’s condition. Houchin identified her as Constance Glantz.

“This is a very unusual case. I’ve been doing this for 31 years and it’s never gotten this far,” Houchin said.

Houchin said a Lincoln-area nursing home where Glantz was receiving end-of-life care pronounced her dead at about 9:44 a.m. and a doctor was willing to sign her death certificate. It is unclear whether that actually happened.

She was taken to the funeral home, where staff called 911 around 11:43 a.m., a Lincoln Fire & Rescue spokeswoman said.

Houchin described the scene when funeral home staff discovered the woman was alive.

“A staff member placed Constance Glantz on a table to begin treatment,” he said. “A staff member noticed she was still breathing.”

He said an investigation is ongoing, but there is no evidence so far that the nursing home acted in bad faith when it declared Glantz dead.

“So far we have not been able to establish any criminal intent on the part of the nursing home, but the investigation is ongoing,” he said.