Funeral home owners return to Colorado to face hundreds of charges after an ‘abhorrent smell’ triggered the discovery of 190 decomposing remains

The owners of a defunct Colorado funeral home where 190 decomposing human bodies were found have returned to the state and are facing hundreds of charges.

Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Oklahoma on Nov. 8 following the morbid discovery at their facility, called Return to Nature, in Penrose after reports of a “repulsive odor.”

They both face 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, more than 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft and four counts of money laundering, according to federal court documents.

Carie appeared in court in Colorado Springs via video on Wednesday and District Judge Samorreyan Burney maintained her bail at $2 million during the hearing. KRDO TV reported.

Jon’s advisory hearing was Friday and his bail also remained at $2 million. Neither has entered a plea and their next court appearance is scheduled for December 5.

Carie (left) and Jon Hallford (right) were arrested in Oklahoma on November 8 following the morbid discovery at their facility, called Return to Nature, in Penrose after reports of a ‘repulsive odor’

The pair face 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, more than 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft and four counts of money laundering, according to federal court documents.

The owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose were charged just over a month after police raided their cemetery following reports from concerned neighbors of a ‘smell of dead animals’.

Carie was booked into the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and Jon was returned to Colorado on Wednesday.

In court, Carie’s public defender had asked for her bail to be reduced to $50,000, citing her lack of a criminal record, but Judge Burney noted she faced more than 250 felony charges.

Court records show the Hallfords are both represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases to the media.

The case began in early October when the report of a “repulsive odor” led to the discovery of the bodies at a Return to Nature Funeral Home location in Penrose, about 35 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

After the bodies were removed, officials said there were 190 sets of remains, some of which had been there for four years.

The coroner’s office used fingerprints and medical records to identify the bodies, and would use DNA if necessary, officials said.

Family members were falsely told their loved ones had been cremated and received materials that were not their ashes, court records said.

The couple was arrested at Jon’s father’s home in Oklahoma, according to a federal arrest warrant that alleged they fled the state to avoid prosecution. The federal charges were dropped after their arrest.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis released a statement after the arrests saying, “I am relieved that criminal charges have been filed against the funeral home owner and that a criminal investigation is ongoing.

‘I know this will not bring peace to the families affected, but we hope that those responsible are held fully accountable in a court of law.

Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller confirmed that his department has managed to identify 110 of the bodies, but that investigators are still working “diligently” to identify the rest.

At least 137 families have been contacted and 24 bodies have been released to their loved ones, Keller said earlier at a news conference.

Fremont County deputies monitor the road leading to Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, Thursday, October 5, 2023

Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said 110 of the deceased have been identified so far, but urged anyone who used Back to Nature’s funeral services between September 2019 and 2023 to reach out

Fingerprints, dental records and medical hardware are used to identify the deceased, with DNA testing ready to be used in cases where this is not possible.

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper described the impact on his staff as “undeniably very negative” as he thanked them for their hard work.

So far, at least one family has filed a lawsuit against the facility, which specializes in environmentally friendly funerals.

The family of Woodland Park resident Lindsay Maher used the service over the summer for her grandmother Yong Anderson’s funeral.

She claimed the funeral home provided “concrete dust” instead of her relative’s ashes.

“To say my family is shocked and outraged is an understatement,” she said.

‘My grandmother’s dying wish was to be cremated and have her ashes spread in the ocean.

‘It turns out that the ash we received from Return 2 Nature was actually just concrete dust and that my grandmother’s body had been in the abandoned building the entire time, rotting next to 114 other bodies from 114 other unsuspecting families.

“They forged my grandmother’s death certificate and gave my grieving family concrete dust.”

The investigation was launched after neighbors complained about the smell coming from the single-storey building.

Joyce Pavetti, 73, can see the funeral home from the stoop of her home and said she noticed a putrid odor in recent weeks. “We just assumed it was a dead animal,” she said.

Neighbor Ron Alexander thought the smell was coming from a septic tank, adding that the haze of law enforcement lights on Wednesday night “resembled the Fourth of July.”

Documents showed Jon told the Colorado program director for the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration that he practiced taxidermy at the facility.

He admitted he had a problem with the property and ‘was prepared’ to attend the property on October 4 for an inspection.

The company charges $1,895 for a “natural burial,” which does not include the cost of a casket and cemetery space, according to its website.

Bodies are not embalmed and buried in biodegradable caskets, shrouds or “anything at all,” the website said.

The funeral home also previously offered cremation services for $1,290, which included a tree planted in a Colorado National Forest.

Family members who want to spend four hours with their loved ones must pay $485, while a one-hour final private moment costs $285.

The funeral home describes its services as ‘a natural way of caring for your loved one with minimal impact on the environment.’

Under Colorado state law, green burials are legal and are defined as burials that take place without embalming.

However, unembalmed bodies must be properly refrigerated within 24 hours.

Anyone who used the funeral home between September 2019 and September 2023 is advised to contact police.