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Colorado funeral home under investigation for storing over 100 bodies improperly for ‘green’ burials
Investigation launched into Colorado funeral home for improper body storage. Cops discovered 115 bodies.
A Colorado funeral home that offered “green” burials without using embalming chemicals or metal caskets is under investigation after police found at least 115 bodies stored improperly on its premises.
The Fremont County sheriff, Allen Cooper, said on Friday that they are working with other agencies to determine if there is any criminal activity involved.
The Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, Colorado, claimed to provide “natural” burials of non-embalmed bodies in biodegradable caskets, shrouds or “nothing at all,” according to its website.
The company also performed cremation services.
The investigation began on Tuesday night when deputies responded to a complaint of a foul odor coming from a building owned by the funeral home. The next day, sheriff’s investigators obtained a search warrant and discovered the poorly stored remains.
Authorities said on Friday at a press conference that they do not believe there is any health risk to the public.
Penrose is a small town of about 3,000 people in the mountains west of Colorado Springs.
On Thursday, trash bags were seen outside the entrance of the company’s building, which was cordoned off, while a hearse was parked at the back of the building, in a parking lot full of weeds. A rotten smell lingered in the air.
Joyce Pavetti, 73, who lives near the funeral home, said she had smelled something bad in the last few weeks.
“We just assumed it was a dead animal,” she said.
On Wednesday night, Pavetti said she saw lights from law enforcement surrounding the building and realized something was wrong. Neighbor Ron Alexander thought the smell was from a septic tank.
Under Colorado law, green burials are legal but state code requires that any body not buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated.
Return to Nature was established six years ago in Colorado Springs and owned by Hallfordhomes LLC, according to public records. The company charged from $1,895 for a “natural burial.”
A green burial refers to burying bodies that have not been embalmed, as different from human composting, in which the body is placed in a vessel and transformed into soil.
