Man declared dead is found alive in funeral home

A Nebraska woman who was pronounced dead in a nursing home on Monday was found breathing hours later by a funeral home worker, authorities said.

The woman, Constance Glantz, 74, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was taken to a hospital and pronounced alive, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference Monday.

“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.

Ms. Glantz was receiving hospice care when she was pronounced dead at 9:44 a.m. by nursing home staff at the Mulberry at Waverly in Waverly, Nebraska, Chief Deputy Houchin said. An inquest by the sheriff’s medical examiner was not necessary at the time of death, he said.

The funeral home, which local media have identified as Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home in Lincoln, transported a person from the nursing home “who they believed to be deceased,” Chief Deputy Houchin said. But an employee who began preparing Ms. Glantz’s body noticed she was still breathing. Two hours after she was pronounced dead, staff called 911, he said.

When Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews arrived, personnel were performing CPR on Ms. Glantz, said MJ Lierman, a spokeswoman for the agency.

They treated Ms. Glantz at the scene and took her to a hospital, Ms. Lierman said.

Ms. Glantz’s family has been notified, authorities said. Authorities did not disclose further details about Ms. Glantz, such as how long she was in the hospice or whether she suffered from any health problems.

Investigators are checking whether any laws have been broken, but so far “we have not been able to find anything,” said police chief Houchin.

Calls to the nursing home were not answered on Monday evening.

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

There are rare cases where people were declared dead but were found alive shortly afterwards.

In 2023, a woman in Iowa was taken to a funeral home in a body bag, where staff noticed her chest moving as she gasped for air.

In 2020, paramedics declared a woman in Michigan suffering from cerebral palsy dead, but a funeral home worker embalming her body hours later found it was still breathing.

In 2018, a South African woman was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident, but hours later she was found breathing in a morgue. And in 2014, a Mississippi man who was pronounced dead was found alive in a body bag in a funeral home.