Owner of Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies including remains of fetuses and babies were found sent text saying he was covered in ‘PEOPLE JUICE’ while ordering a cheeseburger, cops say amid investigation

Officials have begun uncovering gruesome information about the goings-on at a Colorado funeral home where nearly 200 rotting bodies were found.

Jon and Carie Hallford are facing 250 charges of forgery, theft, money laundering and abuse of a corpse after nearly 200 rotting bodies were discovered at their Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado Springs.

Police found 190 dead bodies left in rooms where “human decomposition fluids and insects lined the floors” after repeated complaints from neighbors about the “odor of dead animals” hanging over the area.

Investigations revealed that text messages were sent between both owners, showing they were under increasing financial pressure and feared they would be caught.

Some reports suggested the pair had considered digging a large hole and treating the bodies with lye or setting them on fire.

Officials also found animal remains and bags of packed concrete.

Jon appeared in court last week for a hearing, where his bond amount was reduced from just $2 million cash to a $100,000 cash bond.

The judge found that Jon would not endanger public safety if released, and he had no prior criminal history.

Carie appeared in court yesterday for a preliminary hearing and is scheduled to appear again today.

The judge will consider a defense request to prevent the probable cause affidavit from being released. The Bond arguments will be heard on January 17.

According to FBI Special Agent Andrew Cohen, 23 of the bodies found had dates of death from 2019 and 61 from 2020.

He told a hearing: ‘It was like something you’d like to forget but can’t.’

Cohen also showed photos of the funeral home in court. He explained that the floor of the first room was originally creamy white in color, but was brown in the photos because it was covered in human decomposition fluids.

He further said that police had to place cardboard on the floors to prevent them from sliding inside.

The bodies were stacked on top of each other and some were not even in body bags, he said.

Some bodies were partially covered with exposed heads and feet, others were found wrapped in plastic and duct tape, and some were found in black plastic bins.

Text messages between the duo were also revealed during the hearing, which showed Jon was starting to worry about being caught again in 2020.

“My only real focus is keeping us out of jail,” reads a text message he allegedly wrote.

According to Kevin Clark, an investigator with the district attorney’s office, Jon Caire had texted: “Options: A, build a new machine ASAP. B, dig a big hole and use lye. Where? C, dig a small hole and make a big fire. Where? D, I’m going to jail, which is probably going to happen.’

It is still unclear which machine he was referring to.

In another text from last year, Jon began describing what he wanted to eat for Caire while covered in “human juice.”

‘I want to take a shower as soon as I get back because while I was making the transition I had people approaching me. Would you like the double cheeseburger, lettuce, wrapped in anything but tomatoes, please,” the text read.

The company opened in 2017 and offers “a natural way to care for your loved one with minimal impact on the environment.”

But by the time of the raid, it owed more than $120,000 in unpaid bills and had been sued repeatedly over unpaid wages and disputes with local medical centers.

The company’s operating license expired last November, but the state has little regulation of funeral homes without routine inspections or qualification requirements for operators.

“For four years I marched with this urn across the country, believing it was my son,” said Crystina Page, whose 20-year-old son, David, was shot and killed by police in 2019.

‘My son has been rotting there for four years. It’s the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life.’

County coroners worked around the clock for a week to identify the bodies after the property was raided on October 4.

Many had to undergo DNA testing due to the condition of the bodies before they were returned to their families.

The FBI is currently conducting a Seeking Information on Victims at the Return to Nature Funeral Home questionnaire open on its website to families who believe someone they know is among the 190 bodies found.