Investigators found stacked bodies and maggots at a neglected Colorado funeral home, FBI agent says
11 months, 1 week ago

Investigators found stacked bodies and maggots at a neglected Colorado funeral home, FBI agent says

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Investigators who entered a Colorado funeral home where nearly 200 abandoned bodies were found encountered stacks of partially covered human remains, bodily fluids several inches deep on the floor, and flies and maggots throughout the building, an FBI agent testified Thursday. “It looked like something you’d like to forget but can’t,” Cohen said during a hearing for one of the funeral home's co-owners. Police in November arrested funeral home owners Carie and Jon Hallford in Oklahoma after the married couple allegedly had fled Colorado to avoid prosecution. The Hallfords are accused of abusing corpses, stealing, laundering money and forging documents over several years at the Return to Nature Funeral Home, which was based in Colorado Springs and stored remains in nearby Penrose.

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History of this topic

Funeral homeowners accused of giving families fake ashes and leaving 190 bodies to rot plead guilty
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Funeral homeowners accused of giving families fake ashes and leaving 190 bodies to rot plead guilty

The Independent  

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Owners of a Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were found are charged with COVID fraud
8 months, 1 week ago

Owners of a Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were found are charged with COVID fraud

Associated Press  

DENVER — A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home where authorities last year discovered 190 decaying bodies were indicted on federal charges that they misspent nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds on vacations, cosmetic surgery, jewelry and other personal expenses, according to court documents unsealed Monday. The indictment reaffirms accusations from state prosecutors that Jon and Carie Hallford gave …

Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were found charged with COVID fraud
8 months, 1 week ago

Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were found charged with COVID fraud

LA Times  

A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., in October. The couple who owned a Colorado funeral home — where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year — have been indicted on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from the U.S. government, according …

Denver police seek help finding a former funeral home owner after body kept in hearse for 2 years
10 months ago

Denver police seek help finding a former funeral home owner after body kept in hearse for 2 years

Associated Press  

DENVER — Denver police are asking for the public’s help in finding a former funeral home owner who they say kept a woman’s body in a hearse for two years and kept the cremated remains of at least 30 people. The woman’s body and the cremains were found Feb. 6 during a court-ordered eviction of a house rented by Harford, …

Decaying bodies and fake ashes spur Colorado to confront lax funeral home oversight
10 months ago

Decaying bodies and fake ashes spur Colorado to confront lax funeral home oversight

Associated Press  

DENVER — On the heels of two egregious cases of funeral home owners allegedly mishandling bodies and cremated remains, Colorado lawmakers aimed Wednesday at trying to shore up the state’s lax regulations that failed to prevent the horrific incidents. A bipartisan House committee unanimously voted in a hearing to introduce a bill that would bring Colorado’s regulations more in line …

Investigators found stacked bodies and maggots at a neglected Colorado funeral home, FBI agent says
11 months, 1 week ago

Investigators found stacked bodies and maggots at a neglected Colorado funeral home, FBI agent says

Associated Press  

DENVER — Investigators who entered a Colorado funeral home where nearly 200 abandoned bodies were found encountered stacks of partially covered human remains, bodily fluids several inches deep on the floor, and flies and maggots throughout the building, an FBI agent testified Thursday. Prosecutors also revealed text messages sent between the funeral home’s owners showing they were under growing financial …

Relatives watch as the Colorado funeral owners accused of mishandling 190 remains appear in court
1 year ago

Relatives watch as the Colorado funeral owners accused of mishandling 190 remains appear in court

Associated Press  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Relatives who knew or feared their loved ones were among the 190 abandoned bodies found decomposing in a Colorado funeral home watched in person for the first time Tuesday as the owners of the business appeared before a judge. The Colorado Springs-based funeral home’s facility in Penrose, a Rocky Mountain town of about 4,000 people, is …

Funeral home stored bodies for 4 years, deceived families about loved ones’ ashes, prosecutors say
1 year, 1 month ago

Funeral home stored bodies for 4 years, deceived families about loved ones’ ashes, prosecutors say

Associated Press  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The owners of a Colorado funeral home were arrested Wednesday in Oklahoma on charges linked to the discovery of 190 sets of decaying remains at one of their facilities, including some that apparently had been languishing there for four years. Investigators entered the Return to Nature Funeral Home building in the Rocky Mountain town of Penrose …

Colorado funeral home stockpiled bodies for 4 years, police say
1 year, 1 month ago

Colorado funeral home stockpiled bodies for 4 years, police say

LA Times  

The owner of a Colorado funeral home and his wife were arrested Wednesday in Oklahoma on charges linked to the discovery of 190 sets of decaying remains at one of their facilities, including some that apparently had been languishing there for four years. Investigators entered the Return to Nature Funeral Home building in the Rocky Mountain town of Penrose in …

Family sues Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found over alleged fake ashes
1 year, 1 month ago

Family sues Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found over alleged fake ashes

Associated Press  

DENVER — A family filed a lawsuit Monday against a Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found, alleging the owners allowed the remains of their loved ones to “rot” away while they sent families fake ashes. The gruesome discovery at Return to Nature Funeral Home occurred earlier in October after reports of an “abhorrent smell” coming from a …

Nearly 200 bodies recovered from a Colorado funeral home accused of improper storage
1 year, 2 months ago

Nearly 200 bodies recovered from a Colorado funeral home accused of improper storage

NPR  

Nearly 200 bodies recovered from a Colorado funeral home accused of improper storage Enlarge this image toggle caption David Zalubowski/AP David Zalubowski/AP At least 189 dead and decaying bodies were recovered from the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado this week — that's roughly 75 more decedents than police originally believed to be onsite when they began investigating the …

At Colorado funeral home where 115 decaying bodies found, troubles went unnoticed by regulators
1 year, 2 months ago

At Colorado funeral home where 115 decaying bodies found, troubles went unnoticed by regulators

Associated Press  

DENVER — As legal and financial troubles piled up at the Colorado funeral home where authorities last week discovered at least 115 decomposing bodies, the troubles went unnoticed by state officials who have long struggled to effectively oversee the industry. Last week authorities responding to an “abhorrent smell” entered the funeral home’s neglected building with a search warrant and found …

Police found 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home while investigating putrid smells
1 year, 2 months ago

Police found 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home while investigating putrid smells

Associated Press  

CAÑON CITY, Colo. — 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. Hallford acknowledged that he had a “problem” at the property, the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration letter said. Funeral home …

Police found 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home while investigating putrid smells
1 year, 2 months ago

Police found 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home while investigating putrid smells

LA Times  

A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., on Thursday. 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. Hallford acknowledged that he had …

Three found dead at campsite were members of Colorado Springs family who planned to live ‘off grid’
1 year, 4 months ago

Three found dead at campsite were members of Colorado Springs family who planned to live ‘off grid’

Associated Press  

The decomposed and partially mummified bodies of three people who were recently found at a remote western Colorado campsite were two adult sisters and one woman’s 14-year-old son, Gunnison County Coroner Michael Barnes said. Two were found in a tent down the road from a campsite in the Gunnison National Forest about nine miles from Ohio City, Colorado, Gunnison County …

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