74-year-old woman found alive, breathing at funeral home after being declared dead

LINCOLN, Neb. — An investigation has been launched after a 74-year-old hospice patient was found alive and breathing at a Nebraska funeral home.

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Update 3:03 p.m. ET June 5: The woman, identified as Constance Glantz, was once again declared dead after she was transported to a hospital, officials said Tuesday.

She passed away a few hours after she was found breathing at a funeral home, KOLN reported. An autopsy was performed on Tuesday and the sheriff’s will release more information once the final report is done.

Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home released a statement saying, “Butherus, Maser and Love Funeral Home and our staff are devoted to our community and the families we serve. We are proud that our directors and staff handled the recent incident in the news appropriately and with upmost care.

“Our prayers go out to the family.”

“We thank Lincoln Fire & Rescue and the Lincoln Police Department for their quick response. Thank you to all who have placed their loved ones in our care. We will continue to serve our community with our core values: faith, trust, and compassion.”

The sheriff said the funeral home did nothing wrong and is cooperating with the investigation, instead, they were the ones who found out she was still alive, KOLN reported.

Original report: Constance Glantz was declared dead Monday morning at a nursing home in Waverly, Nebraska. She was declared dead by staff and was taken to Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home, KETV reported.

Because of her illness, CNN reported that her death did not require the coroner to be called, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said. Her case had been considered one in which the “death of a patient is anticipated,” so no coroner or law enforcement was needed.

About two hours after being declared dead, she was found alive at the funeral home as staff were placing her on a table “to start their process” when an employee saw that Glantz was breathing.

The funeral home staff called for medical help after finding Glantz alive. When members of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office arrived, they found staff members performing CPR on the woman.

She was taken to an area hospital and her family has been notified, KETV reported. Her condition was not released, according to CNN.

The sheriff’s office is investigating, but Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said, “At this point we have not been able to find any criminal intent by the nursing home, but the investigation is ongoing.”

Houchin believes at least two people were involved in transporting Glantz from the nursing home to the funeral home.

“I’m sure the nursing home and everybody else is going to be taking a look into what has happened, and I’m sure they’ll look and see if new protocols need to be made and if they were all followed,” he said, according to CNN.

Houchin called it “a very unusual case,” adding that he had “been doing this for 31 years, and nothing like this has ever gotten to this point before,” The Washington Post reported.

Glantz’s illness and how long she had been in hospice care were not disclosed, The New York Times reported.

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