An investigation has been launched in Fremont County, Colorado, concerning the "Return to Nature" funeral home. The establishment, located in the small town of Penrose, has come under scrutiny after the discovery of nearly 200 decomposing human remains, as reported by AP.
The inquiry commenced in response to complaints from local residents who had endured an unpleasant odor for weeks before they finally reported it. Initially, they suspected it might be due to a deceased animal. Joyce Pavetti, whose home overlooks the funeral home, was among those who reluctantly put up with the odor.
In early October, officials from the regulatory body overseeing funeral homes and crematories contacted John Hallford, the owner of "Return to Nature." He explained that the noxious smell was linked to his involvement in taxidermy. The following day, investigators executed a search warrant and made the alarming discovery of decomposing human remains within the funeral home.
The county sheriff's office disclosed that a minimum of 189 bodies had been found at the funeral home, with the possibility of more. The identification process is anticipated to be a lengthy endeavor, potentially taking several weeks or even months. To aid in this process, experts from the FBI, who specialize in responding to mass casualty incidents such as plane crashes, have been called in.
Associated Press notes that "Return to Nature" faced regulatory challenges approximately a year ago. The company had lapsed in paying taxes for several months, was forcibly evicted from one of its properties, and appeared to continue operating even after its registration had expired over 10 months ago. Additionally, USA Today reported that obituaries continued to be posted on the "Return to Nature" Facebook page until August 2023, though the page is now inaccessible.
In June 2023, a court ruled that "Return to Nature" must pay $21,000 in response to a lawsuit filed by Wilbert Funeral Services, a cremation company that had been performing cremations on behalf of the funeral home. They claimed to have severed ties with "Return to Nature" due to unpaid orders dating back to November 2022.
The funeral home continued to offer cremation services until July 2023. Intriguingly, four death certificates issued by the funeral home, dated no earlier than April, pointed to a crematory owned by Wilbert Funeral Services.
Of significant concern, none of the families interviewed by reporters received the customary identification tag or certificate after the cremation, which experts assert is typically provided for verification. Furthermore, these families uniformly described the ashes they received from "Return to Nature" as having the consistency of cement.
Barbara Kemmis, the head of the Cremation Association of North America, advised that a straightforward method to verify whether the funeral home had substituted ashes with cement is to moisten the substance with water. Ashes will not solidify, unlike cement. In at least two instances, families who had employed the services of "Return to Nature" conducted this test, and in both cases, the material they received indeed solidified, raising serious concerns.
Among the disheartened clients is Tanya Wilson, who initially believed that she had scattered her mother's ashes in her beloved Hawaiian location. Now, she harbors suspicions that it wasn't her mother's ashes. Tanya expressed her profound disappointment, stating, "My mom's last wish was for her remains to be scattered in her favorite place, not to decay within a building. We found solace in thinking we had honored her wishes. Now, we have been completely deprived of that solace."
Additionally, a family presented Roselawn funeral home with a death certificate issued by "Return to Nature" in 2021, asserting that Roselawn had cremated their loved one. The Roselawn manager adamantly refuted these claims, stating that their establishment had not conducted such services.
Criminal law expert Ian Farrell suggested that John Hallford, the proprietor of "Return to Nature," could face significant penalties and a potential prison sentence of up to two years on charges of fraud and violating the established regulations for handling deceased individuals. As of now, no charges have been filed against him, and it is expected that none will be until the identification of the bodies discovered in the funeral home is completed.
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