State and federal authorities investigating a southern Colorado funeral home that conducts green burials announced Friday that they discovered at least 115 “improperly stored” bodies following reports of foul odors emanating from the building.
The FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Fremont County authorities confirmed that the agencies have opened parallel probes to determine whether any crimes occurred at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose.
Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper, in a Friday news conference, called it a “horrific” scene as personnel attempted to determine how many bodies sat in the funeral home.
“This case is my office’s highest priority,” he said.
No arrests have been made.
Cooper said the funeral home’s owners “so far” have been cooperative with the investigation.
Colorado Springs police on Thursday executed a search warrant at Return to Nature’s location there in connection with the Fremont County investigation, a spokesperson said.
Late Thursday night, Gov. Jared Polis issued a disaster declaration, allowing state resources to assist in the probes.
“We all have the same questions,” said Mark Michalek, FBI Denver’s special agent in charge, during the news conference. “Who was impacted? How many people? Who’s responsible? And why did it happen?
Authorities have answered few of these questions thus far. Randy Keller, the Fremont County coroner, said the sheriff’s office contacted him Wednesday regarding reports of odors coming from the funeral home.
The improperly stored bodies have “created a hazardous scene,” he said Friday. Investigators are now working to identify the decedents, he said, using DNA, dental and fingerprint methods.
Funeral home’s license suspended
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which oversees the state’s funeral homes, on Thursday issued an order of summary suspension to Return to Nature and its owner, Jon Hallford.
On Wednesday, Hallford acknowledged to state regulators that he has a “problem” at the Penrose property, according to the order. He then “attempted to conceal the improper storage of human remains.”
The following day, Hallford allegedly failed to permit access to an investigator for inspection as required by law, regulators said in the letter. He also admitted to practicing taxidermy at the property.
The state ordered Return to Nature to “immediately cease, desist and refrain from any further acts or activities for which a registration to practice as a funeral establishment is required by the laws of the state of Colorado.”
Hallford did not respond Friday to requests for comment.
The funeral home building and lot are owned by Hallfordhomes LLC, a business with a Colorado Springs address, property records show. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office declared the business license delinquent on Oct. 1 for failure to file a routine reporting form due at the end of July.
The LLC changed addresses around Colorado Springs three times since its establishment in 2016 with a post office box. Hallfordhomes still owes about $5,000 in 2022 property taxes on its building in Penrose, according to Fremont County records.
Court records show Hallford has recently dealt with other legal and financial problems.
An El Paso County judge in June ruled Hallford and his company owed more than $21,000 to a funeral services company.
In 2019, a couple sued Hallford and his wife for failure to pay rent.
“There’s obviously questions”
Trash bags could be seen outside the entrance of the company’s building on Thursday, with two law enforcement vehicles parked in front. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area and a rotting odor pervaded the air. A hearse was parked at the back of the building in a parking lot overgrown with weeds.
Near the squat building sat a post office and a few scattered homes, spaced out between dry grass and empty lots with parked semi-trucks.
Joyce Pavetti, 73, can see the funeral home from the stoop of her house and said she caught whiffs of a putrid smell in the last few weeks.
“We just assumed it was a dead animal,” she said.
Neighbor Ron Alexander thought the smell was coming from a septic tank, adding that Wednesday night’s blur of law enforcement lights “looked like the 4th of July.”
The father of a 25-year-old U.S. Navy serviceman who died last summer said Return to Nature handled his son’s body between the time of its arrival back in Colorado and an Aug. 25 funeral service at Pikes Peak National Cemetery east of Colorado Springs.
“I mean, there’s obviously questions after hearing that there is something going on but there’s not any information that I can go off of to really make any kind of judgment on it,” said Paul Saito Kahler, of Fountain.
Return to Nature, on its website, says the ownership family has been in business for more than 80 years, marketing green or natural burial services without embalming fluid or concrete vaults.
“No chemicals, metal or unnatural materials,” the website states. “Just you and the earth, returning to nature.”
Under Colorado law, green burials are legal but state code requires that any body not buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated.
Previous funeral home investigations
The sordid details emerging from Penrose echo past Colorado funeral home cases.
In January, the owners of the shuttered Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose were sentenced to federal prison for their scheme to sell body parts for cash without families’ permission.
The following month, the former Lake County coroner received six months of jail time for unlawful cremation.
These cases prompted Colorado legislators to pass a slew of laws over the past several years aimed at closing regulatory loopholes. Abuse of a corpse is now a felony offense in Colorado under a 2020 bill, while a 2022 law gave state regulators greater authority to inspect funeral homes and crematories.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office requested family members of decedents who utilized Return to Nature send an email to 23-1941@fremontso.com or call Fremont Emergency Management at 719-276-7421.
Anyone with information about the criminal investigation is encouraged to email tips@fremontso.com.
Victim assistance personnel will be available between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at 1901 East Main St. in Cañon City.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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