An 82-year-old woman was found alive at a New York funeral home after she was pronounced dead hours earlier, police say
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By Rob Frehse, CNN
An 82-year-old woman who’d been pronounced dead at a nursing home on Long Island, New York, was found to be alive nearly three hours later at a funeral home, authorities said, spurring investigations by police and health officials.
The woman was pronounced dead Saturday at the Water’s Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson at 11:15 a.m., Suffolk County police said. After being taken to the O.B. 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 identified publicly, was taken to a hospital after she was found alive, police said.
CNN was unable to obtain an update on the woman’s condition Monday, and police did not provide further details on the incident.
Suffolk County police and the New York State Department of Health are investigating the case, they told CNN. The health department cannot comment further because the probe still is underway, it said.
The incident has been referred to the New York state attorney general’s office, police said.
“This is an awful situation that caused unnecessary trauma for the impacted resident and her loved ones,” the attorney general’s office said in an emailed statement to CNN, adding that the office is reviewing the incident.
In a statement to CNN 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.”
CNN has sought comment from the nursing center and the funeral home.
A similar incident was reported recently in Iowa, where officials said a 66-year-old woman was found breathing inside a body bag in December after she was pronounced dead.
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CNN’s Jessica Prater and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.
