Police find 115 decaying bodies at US mortuary while investigating foul smells
- The owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado allegedly tried to conceal the improper storage of corpses and claimed he was doing taxidermy
- The facility performed ‘green’ burials without embalming chemicals or metal caskets
At least 115 decaying bodies were found at a storage facility for a “green” funeral operator, after neighbours reported abhorrent smells emanating from the location in rural southern Colorado, police said Friday, calling it a “disturbing discovery”.
The owner tried to conceal the improper storage of corpses and claimed he was doing taxidermy at the facility, according to a suspension letter sent to him by state regulators that was made public Friday. No one has been arrested or charged yet.
The Return to Nature Funeral Home facility in the small town of Penrose had been unregistered with the state for 10 months on Wednesday when owner Jon Hallford spoke by phone with a state regulator the day after the smells were reported and police launched an investigation
Hallford acknowledged that he had a “problem” at the property, though the Colorado Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration document obtained by Associated Press did not explain what Hallford meant with his taxidermy claim or how he tried to conceal improper storage of human remains.
Text messages and phone calls were not answered at the funeral home, which had no working voice mail.