Investigators who entered a Colorado funeral home where about 200 derelict bodies were discovered found piles of partially covered human remains, body fluids several inches deep on the floor, and bodies throughout the building. An FBI agent testified Thursday that he encountered flies and maggots.
FBI Agent Andrew Cohen said 23 of the bodies died in 2019 and 61 died in 2020. The bodies included adults, infants, and fetuses. They were stored at room temperature in an abandoned building in the small Rocky Mountain town of Penrose.
“It was like something I wanted to forget but couldn't forget,” Cohen said at a hearing for one of the funeral home's co-owners.
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Investigators also found dead animals and packed concrete bags, Cohen said. Prosecutors said some families received fake remains instead of the cremated remains of their loved ones.
In November, police arrested Carrie and John Hallford, owners of a funeral home in Oklahoma, on suspicion of fleeing from Colorado to avoid prosecution.
The body was discovered in early October when neighbors noticed a decomposing odor. Near the squat building was a post office and several houses dotted between dry grass and a vacant lot where a semi-trailer was parked.
Seen here is the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, where piles of human remains were discovered and bodily fluids several inches deep covered the floor, FBI agents said in 2024. Testified on January 11th. (AP Photo/David Zarbowski, File)
The Hallfords are accused of abuse of corpses, theft, money laundering and document falsification over several years at the Colorado Springs-based Return to Nature Funeral Home, which stored human remains in nearby Penrose. has been accused.
They are each charged with approximately 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of theft, four counts of money laundering, and more than 50 counts of forgery. John Hallford remained in custody Thursday at the El Paso County Jail after his bail was reduced from $2 million to $100,000 at a hearing last week.
John Hallford's attorney, Adam Steigerwald, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Carrie Hallford's attorney, Michael Studzinski, was in court and could not be reached for comment.
Several families who asked Return to Nature to cremate their relatives told The Associated Press that the FBI had confirmed that their bodies were among the decomposing remains.
Prosecutors say John Hallford had been worried about being arrested since 2020.
“My sole focus is to keep us out of jail,” he said in a text message he allegedly wrote, read out by prosecutors in court last week.
Further details about how the body was mishandled have not been released as defense attorneys objected to the release of affidavits in the case.
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After the bodies were discovered, efforts began to identify them using fingerprints, dental records, medical equipment and DNA. Authorities plan to level the building where the body was found within the next few days. Cohen said dozens of bodies remain unidentified.
In December, relatives who knew or feared their loved ones were among the discarded bodies watched in person for the first time as Hallford appeared before a judge. One woman held up a photo of her deceased son, who she suspected was among the bodies abused.
Return to Nature was launched in 2017, offering cremation and “green” burials without embalming fluids.
According to public records and interviews with people who worked with them, the owners have fallen behind on tax payments, been evicted from one of their properties, and are facing unpaid bills from a crematorium they stopped doing business with about a year ago. A lawsuit is being filed.
