The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department is investigating after a 74-year-old woman pronounced dead Monday morning turned up alive at a Lincoln funeral home. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says while preparing her body for funeral arrangements, a staff member at Butherus-Maser & Love Funeral Home near 40th and “A’ noticed she was still breathing.
“They instantly called 911 and LFR and LPD responded and she was taken to a local hospital and was still alive,” Houchin says. The woman was receiving hospice care at The Mulberry nursing home in Waverly and was expected to pass away.
Employees of the nursing home pronounced her dead at 9:45 a.m. It was two hours later when the funeral home found her alive. Houchin says they are investigating, but at this point they have not found any criminal wrongdoing.