Authorities reported Tuesday that they had removed the remains of at least 189 people who had been improperly stored from a southern Colorado funeral home where the owner said he practiced taxidermy.
Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, claimed to offer “green” burials. It came to the attention of local authorities after reports of a rotten odor emanating from the company’s abandoned building. On October 4, local and federal authorities executed a search warrant and discovered the bodies of 115 people who had initially been improperly stored at a facility in Fremont County, about 160 miles south of Denver.
The same day, Colorado officials Zen Mayhew, program director for the Office Funeral Home and Crematorium Registry, spoke directly with Return to Nature owner and operator John Hallford. During the conversation, Hallford admitted there had been “problems” at the facility, where he claimed to have been practicing taxidermy.
in summary suspension order Mayhew, who is from the same state, pointed out that the facility has been operating without a license since November last year. He also reported that Mr. Hallford attempted to cover up the improper storage of remains at the facility. This order prohibited Return to Nature from continuing its operations.
“That’s horrible”
At an Oct. 6 press conference, Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said what he discovered while executing the search warrant was “very disturbing” and “horrifying.” According to the Kanyon City Daily News. One of the deputy coroners developed a rash shortly after entering the facility and required medical treatment, but later recovered.
“We all have the same questions,” FBI Denver Special Agent Mark Michalek said at a news conference, including the identity of the victims, the total number of victims, and why this happened. The investigation is expected to take several months and will focus on supporting the families of those affected.
Cooper said at the time that the facility was a large 2,500-square-foot site and would first require “hazard mitigation” before investigators could begin work in earnest. The investigation would involve a federal forensics team and specialized equipment. Once secure, the facility will be treated as a crime scene, and after evidence has been collected and documented, the body will be treated in a “dignified manner” and safely transported for identification and family notification. That will happen.
in Tuesday’s update, Cooper and Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller reported the latest number of bodies found as “at least 189,” which have now been transferred to the county coroner’s office. However, they warned that “the total number of deaths may change as the identification and investigation process progresses.”
Notifications to families will begin “in the coming days,” according to the update.
suspicious ashes
Last week, the Denver Post reported Reported the Jesse Elliot incident He was also a customer of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, which was operated by Mr. Hallford and his wife, Carrie. Elliott handed over the remains of his 76-year-old mother, a Buddhist environmental activist who had requested that her ashes be scattered on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Elliott immediately became suspicious of the couple and refused to visit them at the funeral home. Carey then delivered Elliott an inexplicably heavy package containing her mother’s ashes, which weighed 92 pounds. The package did not include a metal tag used to track the deceased through cremation, and Carey did not provide a cremation certificate. And while Elliott initially handed over her remains to Carey with a “big smile”, she said she became defensive when she questioned the cremation process.
Elliott’s mother’s death certificate stated that Return to Nature used Wilbert Funeral Home for cremation, but Wilbert’s representatives had never handled the remains. said. In fact, they had stopped working on Return to Nature seven months before Elliot’s mother passed away.
Jesse’s sister eventually took the remains to a funeral home in Georgia, but although no forensic tests were performed, administrators said the remains did not appear to be human.
Although her family had doubts, they followed her mother’s wishes and scattered some of her ashes in Hawaii. Law enforcement then directed Elliott to preserve the remaining remains while the investigation continued.
“I want my mother’s remains returned so I can try again to put her in peace,” he said.
