Hospice patient believed dead found alive in funeral home

A woman who was presumed dead was discovered by a funeral home employee and was still breathing.

Constance Glantz, 74, was being cared for in a nursing home where facility staff had already expected the elderly woman to pass away.

At approximately 9:44 a.m. yesterday (June 3), Ms. Glantz was pronounced dead and shortly thereafter transported to the Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said.

But an employee at the funeral home got an unexpected surprise when he discovered that Mrs. Glantz was actually still alive and breathing.

The employee called 911 at around 11:44 a.m., whereupon funeral home staff performed CPR on the 74-year-old and took her to the hospital, where she is still being treated.

At a press conference yesterday, Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said: “An employee was laying Constance Glantz on a table when he noticed that she was breathing.

“They immediately called 911 and LFR and LBD responded and she was taken to a local hospital and is still alive.”

Police are currently investigating the incident (Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)

He continued: “LSO was at the nursing home and we have begun investigating the incident.”

“At this point in time, we cannot determine any criminal intent on the part of the nursing home, but the investigation is ongoing.”

Because her death was predictable and nothing suspicious occurred, the hospice did not need to contact authorities or a coroner, he added. Her family was also notified.

Houchin further described the case as “very unusual” and pointed out that he has been in the industry for over 30 years and has never experienced anything like this.

UNILAD has contacted Lancaster Police and Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home for comment.

Although this is highly unusual, something similar happened to a man in Montreal, Canada: When he returned home from vacation, he discovered that he had received a letter declaring his death.

The elderly woman was taken to a funeral home (fstop123/Getty Stock)

Nick Fatouros received a letter from the Department of Justice. The 14-page document was the result of an unpaid speeding ticket from 2022. The government demanded payment of the fine from Nick’s estate.

He contested the fine at the time, after which Nick took a long trip to Costa Rica.

The government agency later admitted that the ordeal was due to human error.

“Like any other organization, the ministry is not immune to human error,” the Quebec government said in a statement to UNILAD at the time of the ordeal.

“The fine collector inadvertently used a template letter used for correspondence with an estate rather than the one normally used for communication with a defendant. We regret this incident.”

“The ministry has neither declared the defendant dead nor informed any other authority of his death.”

Photo credit: Getty Images/Arrow/Google Earth

Topics: News, US News