Shocking! Authorities discover 189 decomposing bodies at Colorado funeral home
Colorado burial home
Death is the sad truth of life. When someone close to us dies, we try to give them the best send-off. That is exactly what the people of Penrose, a small town in Colorado, United States, thought they were doing by availing the services of Return to Nature, a 'green' funeral home. However, a few weeks back an "abhorrent smell" alerted authorities to heaps of decomposing bodies.
Foul odour
Officials have discovered the decomposing remains of around 189 people from the Colorado funeral home that offered cremations and 'green' burials without the use of embalming fluids.
The discovery was made earlier this month, and the initial estimate was 115 bodies. However, on Tuesday, officials said that they have now identified 189 bodies.
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As per CBS News, they also said that the number could further change depending on the identification and the investigation.
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'Horrific' scene
Authorities started their investigation on October 5after receiving complaints of a foul order from inside the decrepit building that houses the funeral home.
Fremont sheriff Allen Cooper described what they found as "horrific".
Citing an order from state officials dated October 5, news agency AP reports that Jon Hallford, the owner of the funeral home, has acknowledged having a "problem" at Penrose. Hallford also claimed that he practised taxidermy at the Penrose site.
Authorities finished removing the decomposing bodies on October 11and are working on identifying the remains. For this, they have sought help from an FBI team that, as per AP, gets deployed to mass casualty events like aircraft crashes.
Funeral home in trouble
As per the Gazette, the funeral home's licenceexpired months before the discovery was made. Citing records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), it reports that the licence for Return to Nature Funeral Home Penrose location expired on Nov30, 2022.
Documentation released by DORA revealed that despite that, the funeral home continued operations.
Authorities reportedly were aware of the funeral home's troubles. It had missed tax payments in recent months, had got evicted from one of its properties and was also sued for unpaid bills by a crematory that ended business ties with it almost a year ago.
More than 120 worried families have already contacted authorities, fearing their relatives could be among the decomposing bodies. Colorado, as per the report, has some of the weakest rules for funeral homes in the US with no routine inspections or qualification requirements for funeral home operators.
(With inputs from agencies)
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