Canon City, Colorado — The foul odor permeated a neglected structure in a small Colorado town for days, and a subsequent report prompted police to examine the storage facility of the “green” funerary operator more closely. They made a horrifying discovery inside: a minimum of 115 decomposing carcasses.
On Friday, investigators remained silent regarding their findings in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado. However, their intentions to enlist the assistance of teams that typically deal with airline accidents, coroners from neighboring jurisdictions, and the FBI indicated a catastrophic situation.
In the meantime, a state document alleged that funeral home proprietor Jon Hallford attempted to conceal the improper storage of carcasses. According to the Thursday letter of suspension from the state, he claimed he was performing taxidermy at the facility.
According to the letter from the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration, Hallford admitted to having a “problem” at the property. Although the document failed to provide further details regarding the taxidermy and the alleged improper storage of remains, the facility’s registration expired in November.
Police Found 115 Bodies At Colorado ‘Green’ Funeral Home While Investigating Putrid Smells.
No one had been charged or apprehended. The funeral home did not respond to text messages requesting comment. No one at the company answered the phone, and the voicemail system was inoperable.
At a news conference, Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper stated that funeral home officials were cooperating as investigators sought to determine any criminal wrongdoing. He described the scene inside the building as “horrific.”
A foul, putrid odor persisted on Friday, emanating from the building’s rear, where windows had been shattered. As they walked around the building, coroner’s officials from neighboring El Paso County and Fremont County parked their vehicles outside and conversed amongst themselves.
Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller stated that obtaining fingerprints, locating medical or dental records, and conducting DNA testing could take several months for certain identifications. He added that families would be informed promptly following the identification of the body.
Investigators requested that family members who had utilized the funerary home contact them.
The 47-year-old Mary Simons couldn’t help but ponder whether her spouse was inside the building as the news broke. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, Darrell Simons succumbed to pneumonia in August, a few months before their thirteenth anniversary. Mary Simons contracted to return to Nature Funeral Home to cremate him, but the ashes were never delivered.
In the rocking chairs that Simons and her husband occupied for extended periods at their residence in the vicinity of Florence, Colorado, she recalled his proposal, which he accomplished by hurriedly slouching on his knees, opening a box containing a rock, and constructing a small pond with a trickle of water to alleviate her anxiety. Eventually, she had begun to overcome her grief, she stated.
“Suddenly it’s like ‘oh my God’, I’ve lost him all over again,” Simons stated with emotions. “It’s as if the grieving process is beginning again.”
She stated that police informed Simons that the investigation into the presence of her husband’s corpse in the building would be a lengthy process.
Police Found 115 Bodies At Colorado ‘Green’ Funeral Home While Investigating Putrid Smells.
To process “scenes of national magnitude,” such as significant airline disasters, the FBI was bringing in teams with specialized equipment and additional training, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek of Denver.
The bodies were contained within a 230-square-meter (2,500-square-foot) structure that resembled a conventional single-story house in aspect and size. According to the funeral’s website, burials were conducted using biodegradable caskets, shrouds, or “nothing at all” instead of embalming chemicals or metal caskets.
Until July, cremations were also available for a fee of $1,895 for a “natural burial,” which did not include a casket or cemetery space.
Although green burials are permitted by Colorado law, anybody not interred within 24 hours must be refrigerated by state code.
Tuesday night, deputies were summoned about an unidentified suspicious incident that officials have not yet disclosed. The following day, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office investigators returned with a search warrant and discovered the remains.
Joyce Pavetti, 73, stated that she had detected odors of a foul odor in recent weeks and that she could see the funeral home from the porch of her house.
She stated, “We simply assumed it was a dead animal.”
SOURCE – (AP)
