Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 bodies were found to face flurry of charges on return to state

CANON CITY, COLORADO: The proprietors of a defunct funeral establishment in Colorado where 190 decomposing human bodies were discovered have returned to face hundreds of felony charges.

Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Wagoner, Oklahoma on November 8, 2023, following the horrific discovery in their facility, called Return to Nature Funeral Home, in Penrose after concerned neighbors reported an “abhorrent smell.”

According to federal court documents, they each face 190 counts of corpse abuse, over 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft, and four counts of money laundering.

What was decided in court over the week?

During the advisement hearing held on Wednesday, Carie presented herself in District Court in Colorado Springs through video conferencing.

The District Judge Samorreyan Burney, presiding over the hearing, decided to maintain Carie's bail at a cash amount of $2 million, as reported by KRDO-TV.

Despite the request made by Carie's public defender to reduce her bail to $50,000, citing her clean criminal record, Judge Burney observed that Carie was facing more than 250 felony charges.

On Friday, Jon's advisement hearing was conducted, and his bail was also retained at $2 million.

Neither Carie nor Jon entered a plea, and their next court appearance is scheduled for December 5, 2023.

On Tuesday, Carie was taken to the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs, while Jon was returned to Colorado on Wednesday.

How did it all unravel for the Hallfords?

The Return to Nature Funeral Home, operated by Jon and Carie Hallford, advertised its services as a natural and environmentally conscious way of caring for loved ones.

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

The company also offered a “natural burial” option for $1,895, which does not include the cost of a casket or cemetery space.

This option involves burying the body without embalming and using biodegradable caskets, shrouds, or nothing at all.

However, in early October, a report of an “abhorrent smell” led to the discovery of several bodies at the funeral home’s location in Penrose, approximately 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

Local residents had complained about the odor emanating from the property, with some assuming it was a dead animal.

Neighbor Ron Alexander thought the smell was coming from a septic tank.

Joyce Pavetti, who lives nearby, reported catching whiffs of a putrid smell in the past few weeks.

Upon removal of the bodies, it was reported that 190 sets of remains were discovered, some of which had been present for as long as four years.

The coroner's office employed a combination of fingerprint and medical record analysis to identify the deceased, with DNA testing conducted if necessary.

According to court documents, family members had been falsely informed that their loved ones had been cremated and had received materials that were not their ashes.

The couple was apprehended at the home of Jon's father in Oklahoma after allegedly fleeing the state to avoid prosecution.

Although the federal charge was dropped upon their arrests, it was revealed in documents that Jon informed the Colorado Program Director of the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration that he practiced taxidermy at the establishment.

Furthermore, he acknowledged having a problem at the property and agreed to meet for an inspection on October 4.

The Fremont County Coroner, Randy Keller, has stated that his department has successfully identified 110 of the bodies, but that the investigation team is still working diligently to identify the remaining deceased individuals.

At least 137 families have been contacted, with 24 bodies released to their loved ones, as previously announced by Keller in a press conference.

The identification process involves the use of fingerprints, dental records, and medical hardware, with DNA tests being reserved for cases where identification through said methods is not possible.

As of now, at least one aggrieved family has filed a lawsuit against the facility.

Lindsay Maher, a resident of Woodland Park, has claimed that the funeral home provided "concrete dust" instead of her grandmother Yong Anderson's ashes, for whose burial the service was used in the summer.

“To say my family is horrified and enraged is an understatement,” she said.

She continued, “My grandma’s last wishes were to be cremated and have her ashes spread in the ocean. It turns out the ashes we received from Return 2 Nature was actually just concrete dust and my grandma’s body has been at the abandoned building this entire time just decaying next to 114 other bodies of 114 other unsuspecting families.”

“They falsified my grandma's death certificate and handed my grieving family concrete dust,” she noted.

Colorado state law permits green burials, which involve interment without embalming.

However, in the absence of embalming, non-refrigerated bodies must be properly refrigerated within 24 hours.

It is strongly recommended that individuals who utilized the funeral home services during the period of September 2019 to September 2023 contact the police.