Authorities: Woman sent to Iowa funeral home was alive

By MARGARET STAFFORD
Associated Press

A continuing care home in suburban Des Moines is being fined $10,000 after a funeral home discovered a woman sent to it in a body bag was alive. The Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals said the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale reported the 66-year-old woman died on Jan. 3. The report says her body was taken to the Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory in a zipped body bag. When the funeral home staff unzipped the bag, they saw the woman was unconscious but breathing. The department says the woman was returned to hospice care and died two days later.