Horror as 74-year-old woman pronounced dead in hospice care is discovered to still be breathing

Staff at a Nebraska funeral home were left stunned when a woman who had been brought there after being declared dead was found to still be breathing.

Constance Glantz, 74, was believed to have died while in a hospice and had been transferred to the Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home in Lincoln on Monday morning.

But a worker at the home who was preparing her body for a funeral found Glantz was still very much alive and 'instantly called 911', according to Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin.

Authorities were immediately summoned to the home after an employee noticed the woman was breathing and 'instantly called 911,' according to Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin with the Sheriff's Office.

Staff at a Nebraska funeral home got the shock of their lives when a woman who had been brought there, believed to be dead, was found to still be breathing

'It's a very unusual case. Been doing this 31 years and nothing like this has ever gotten to this point before,' Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said during a press conference

Funeral home staff then began to perform CPR on the woman before she was transported to a local hospital.

The woman had initially been brought to the nursing home at 9:44am, but earlier that morning she had been declared dead at the hospice where she had been receiving care, and had been seen by a doctor, who signed her death certificate.

'It's a very unusual case. Been doing this 31 years and nothing like this has ever gotten to this point before,' Houchin said during a press conference later in the day.

'We have not been able to find any criminal intent by the nursing home but the investigation is ongoing,' Houchin said. 

The sheriff's office is investigating but no criminal charges are pending.