(Trends Wide) — An 82-year-old woman who had been pronounced dead at a nursing home on Long Island, New York, was found alive nearly three hours later at a funeral home, authorities said, prompting investigations by police and New York authorities. health.
The woman was pronounced dead Saturday at Water’s Edge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Port Jefferson at 11:15 a.m., Suffolk County Police said. After being taken to the OB Davis Funeral Home in nearby Miller Place at 1:30 p.m., she was found breathing at 2:09 p.m., police said.
The woman, whom authorities have not publicly identified, was taken to a hospital after she was found alive, police said.
The woman was found alive at a Long Island funeral home Saturday hours after she was pronounced dead, authorities say. (From OB Davis Funeral Homes/Facebook)
Trends Wide was unable to get an update on the woman’s condition on Monday, and police did not provide any further details about the incident.
Suffolk County Police and the New York State Department of Health are investigating the case, they told Trends Wide. The health department cannot comment further because the investigation is still ongoing, she said.
The incident has been referred to the New York state attorney general’s office, police said.
“This is a terrible situation that caused unnecessary trauma to the affected resident and her loved ones,” the attorney general’s office said in an emailed statement to Trends Wide, adding that the office is reviewing the incident.
In a statement to Trends Wide affiliate WABC, the funeral home said: “Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the families we are honored to serve, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter.”
Trends Wide has sought comment from the nursing facility and the funeral home.
A similar incident was recently reported in Iowa, where authorities said a 66-year-old woman was found breathing into a body bag in December after she was pronounced dead.
Trends Wide’s Jessica Prater and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.
