A 74-year-old woman thought to be dead was found breathing ahead of her funeral.
On Monday, June 3, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office held a Press conference where authorities identified Constance Glantz of Lincoln, Nebraska, as the individual who was nearly buried alive.
“This is a very unusual case,” Lancaster County Sheriff Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said during the press conference. “Been doing this 31 years, and nothing like this has ever reached this point.”
At about 9:45 a.m. local time, Glantz who had been in hospice care, was declared dead by staff at The Mulberry nursing home in Waverly.
Her body was then taken to the Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home, at approximately 11:43 a.m., Lincoln Fire and Rescue was called “for a medical emergency” after a staff member at the funeral home noticed the woman was still breathing.
A Lincoln Fire and Rescue spokesperson said they responded to a “CPR in progress.”
“She was taken to a local hospital, and is still alive,” Houchin said of Glantz.
“LSO has been to the nursing home, and we have started our investigation into what happened. At this point, we have not been able to find any criminal intent by the nursing home, but the investigation is ongoing,” he continued.
According to Houchin, the sheriff’s department had not been dispatched earlier that day when staff at The Mulberry nursing home thought Glantz had died — authorities were only called once the funeral home staff member realized she was still breathing.
“It did not fall into those parameters for them to have to call us to have to do a coroner investigation,” Houchin explained. “Those are a death of a patient whose death is anticipated,’ which this was, and a physician had seen her in the last seven days, and the physician was willing to sign the death certificate, and that there was nothing suspicious at the time of the death.”
“All of those fit,” Houchin said of why his deputies were not initially dispatched to the nursing home.
He added that Glantz’s family had been notified of the situation.
