Authorities have now removed at least 189 decomposing bodies from a Colorado funeral home, up from the initial 115 reported two weeks ago when police investigated a foul odour. The remains were discovered at the Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, a small town in the state. Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper described the scene as “horrific”.
The discovery came after the owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, faced eviction and a lawsuit from a crematory for unpaid bills. State records show Jon Hallford admitted a “problem” at the site and claimed he practised taxidermy there. The company offered “green” burials without embalming fluids, but Colorado law requires bodies not buried within 24 hours to be properly refrigerated.
Colorado has some of the weakest funeral home regulations in the US, with no routine inspections or qualification requirements. State regulators only inspected the site after the odour was reported, despite the funeral home’s registration having expired more than ten months earlier. Lawmakers granted inspection powers last year but provided no extra funding.
More than 120 families have contacted law enforcement, fearing their relatives may be among the remains. El Paso County Coroner Leon Kelly said it could take weeks to identify all the bodies.
