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115+ ‘unidentified bodies’ found at Colorado funeral home, local disaster emergency declared
Investigators with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office found the bodies and investigations are being done by various agencies including the FBI.
In a sensational discovery, more than 115 unidentified bodies have been found improperly stored at a Colorado funeral home named Return to Nature Funeral Home. According to a report by CBS News, investigators with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office found the bodies and investigations are being done by various agencies including the FBI.
A local disaster emergency has been declared while investigations are going on. Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller informed that the investigation will take lot of time. As per the CBS News report, Coroner highlighted that it would take several months. The investigation would involve forensic identification of the bodies including checking their fingerprints and DNA.
"The loved ones in this facility will be treated with the utmost care and respect. Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this tragedy and we will work to get those families the answers they deserve," said Keller.
"It is a very tragic situation and there are a lot of decedents there and I don't really want to go into the scene out of respect for the families," added Keller.
Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper talked to the media in a news conference on Friday.
"There have been a lot of questions and concerns expressed by the community, especially those families who entrusted their loved ones to this funeral home. Our priority and our focus is on the families. We are committed to finding answers for the families as quickly as possible," said Cooper.
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The Return to Nature Funeral Home advertises itself as a "green" burial place where no embalming fluids and no concrete vaults are used.
The FBI talked about the team that will be used for the investigation.
"This will include our technical hazardous response team and our disaster recovery team. These are teams with additional training and specialized equipment that serve to process scenes of national magnitude, to include the response to 9/11 and major airline incidents, so they will be coming in the next few days," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Denver field office Mark Michalek.
