Clay County officials suspect carbon monoxide poisoning caused the death of a longtime Clay Center pastor.

Clay County Sheriff Jeff Franklin says Pastor John Green was found dead and his wife Cheryl Green was flown to an Omaha hospital for treatment Thursday evening.

A neighbor called 911 after Cheryl Green did not go to work as director of the Clay Center Public Library.

The 49-year-old John Green had led Clay Center Christian Church for 23 years, and he was well known in the area because he performed in a number of Hastings Community Theatre productions.