Police Found 115 Bodies At Colorado ‘Green’ Funeral Home While Investigating Putrid Smells

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (AP) — The awful smell seeped from a neglected building in a small Colorado town for days, followed by a report that made police take a closer look at the “green” funeral operator’s storage facility. Inside, they made a gruesome discovery: At least 115 decaying bodies.

Investigators were tight-lipped Friday (Oct. 6) about exactly what they found inside the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, a funeral home that performs “green” burials without embalming chemicals or metal caskets. Authorities plan to bring in teams that usually deal with airline crashes, coroners from nearby jurisdictions, and the FBI pointed to a grim mess.

A state document, meanwhile, alleged funeral home owner Jon Hallford tried to conceal the improper storage of corpses. According to the state suspension letter dated Thursday (Oct. 5), he claimed he was doing taxidermy at the facility.

Hallford acknowledged that he had a “problem” at the property, the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration letter said. The document did not elaborate on the taxidermy and alleged improper storage of remains, but the facility’s registration has expired since November.

No one had been arrested or charged. Text messages seeking comment to the funeral home went unanswered. No one at the business picked up the phone, and there was no working voicemail.

Funeral home officials were cooperating as investigators sought to determine any criminal wrongdoing, Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said at a news conference where he called the scene inside the building “horrific.”

On Friday, a sour, rotten stench still came from the back of the building, where windows were broken. Coroner’s officials from Fremont County and nearby El Paso County parked their trucks outside and discussed among themselves as they walked around the building.

Family members who have used the funeral home were asked to contact investigators.

Some identifications would require taking fingerprints, finding medical or dental records, and DNA testing, a process that could take several months, Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said. He added that families would be notified as soon as possible after body identification.

This article first appeared in AP News.