While investigating reports of rotten odors coming from the property, Colorado officials discovered 115 bodies at a self-proclaimed “green” funeral home.
The tragedy has raised concerns about such unusual funeral home practices, as well as the need for stricter regulation of the funeral business.
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- What is this incident about?
- What does the research discover?
- Was anyone arrested in this case?
- What is needed in research?
- How did people react once the news broke?
What is this incident about?
Credit: AP
The foul odor permeated a dilapidated structure in a small Colorado town for days, prompting police to investigate the “green” funeral operator’s storage facility.
Inside they made a terrible discovery: at least 115 decomposing bodies. On Friday, investigators remained silent about what they discovered inside the Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, Colorado.
Still, his plans to bring in experts who normally deal with air disasters, coroners from adjacent jurisdictions and the FBI suggested a bleak situation.
What does the research discover?
Credit: AP
Meanwhile, according to a state document, funeral home owner Jon Hallford attempted to conceal improper storage of the body.
According to Thursday’s state suspension letter, he claimed to be performing taxidermy at the facility. According to the letter from the Colorado Funeral Home and Crematorium Registration Office, Hallford admitted to having a “problem” at the location.
The letter did not detail the taxidermy and alleged illegal storage of remains, although the facility’s registration had expired in November.
Was anyone arrested in this case?
There were no arrests or charges. Text queries seeking comment from the funeral home went unanswered. No one at the company answered the phone and there was no working voicemail.
Funeral home staff were cooperating with police as they worked to determine any foul play, according to Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper, who described the situation inside the building as “horrible.”
A terrible smell of rot still emanated from the back of the building, where windows had been destroyed on Friday. Coroner’s officials from Fremont and surrounding El Paso counties parked their trucks outside and talked as they walked through the facility.
What is needed in research?
According to Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller, some identifications would include obtaining fingerprints, locating medical or dental records and DNA testing, which could take many months.
He stated that families will be alerted when the body is identified. Investigators have contacted relatives who have used the funeral facilities.
How did people react once the news broke?
Credit: AP
Mary Simons, 47, couldn’t help but wonder if her husband was inside the building when the news broke. Darrell Simons died of pneumonia in August, just months before their 13th wedding anniversary. Return to Nature Funeral Home was hired to cremate him, but the ashes never arrived.
She remembered him proposing to her by running, sliding on his knee and opening a box with a rock inside and the small pond he built with a trickle of water to calm her anxiety while sitting in the rocking chairs Simons and her husband had built. They spent long hours at her home in nearby Florence, Colorado.
He had finally begun to come out of his grief, he said. “Suddenly it’s like, ‘Oh my God,’ I lost him again,” Simons shouted. “It’s like the grieving process starts all over again.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn