American woman declared dead found alive in funeral home

A woman in Nebraska who was initially pronounced dead at a nursing home was later found alive at a funeral home, authorities have confirmed.

An emergency call was made on Monday by staff at a funeral home in Waverly, near Lincoln, who noticed the 74-year-old was still breathing and performed CPR on her.

Constance Glantz had been pronounced dead about two hours earlier by staff at a nearby nursing home.

She was taken to a local hospital. The police are investigating the incident, but say they have found no evidence of criminal intent at the nursing home.

“This is a very unusual case,” Chief Deputy Ben Houchin of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said during a livestreamed news conference.

“I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and nothing like this has ever gotten to this point before.”

No coroner was sent to the nursing home because Ms. Glantz had been placed in hospice care, and the circumstances did not fall within a coroner’s jurisdiction, Mr. Houchin told reporters. Mrs. Glantz’s death was foreseen, he explained.

In addition, “a doctor had seen her for the past seven days and the doctor was prepared to sign the death certificate, and … there was nothing suspicious at the time of death.”

The woman’s current condition is unknown. Mr Houchin confirmed her family had been informed of the situation.

Mr Houchin did not name the houses where the accident occurred, but the BBC has sought comment from a nursing home and a funeral home mentioned by local media.

Mrs. Glantz isn’t the only person to be declared dead, but then revealed to be alive.

In June last year, 76-year-old Bella Montoya was pronounced dead in Ecuador after a suspected stroke, placed in a coffin and taken to a funeral home for a wake before her funeral. Five hours later she was found to be still alive after the coffin was opened to change clothes. However, she died days later.

In 2018, a South African woman who was initially declared dead after a road accident was found alive in a mortuary refrigerator.

Dr. Stephen Hughes, senior lecturer in medicine at Anglia Ruskin University’s School of Medicine in Chelmsford, has said such cases are rare but that “death is a process”.

“Sometimes someone looks like they’re dead, but they’re not quite dead,” Dr Hughes told the BBC after the Ecuador incident. “A careful investigation is necessary.”

Dr. Hughes added that doctors often watch for heart sounds or breathing efforts for at least a minute before declaring someone dead, and that some medications can also slow body processes, giving a person the false appearance of death.