More Than 100 Improperly Stored Bodies Found at Colorado ‘Green’ Funeral Home After Neighbors Complain of ‘Putrid’ Smell

Police in Colorado discovered at least 115 bodies that they say were stored improperly inside a funeral home that boasts of performing “green” burials without embalming fluid.

The Return to Nature Funeral Home near Colorado Springs had a "putrid" stench in the last few weeks that was so strong neighbors could smell it, leading to state and federal officials opening an investigation.

“We just assumed it was a dead animal,” Joyce Pavetti told the Associated Press.

She said she could see lights from law enforcement swarming around the building on Wednesday night and knew something was going on.

Neighbor Ron Alexander thought the smell was coming from a septic tank, adding that Wednesday night’s blur of law enforcement lights “looked like the 4th of July.”

The father of a 25-year-old U.S. Navy serviceman who died last summer said Return to Nature handled his son’s body between the time of its arrival back in Colorado and an Aug. 25 funeral service at Pikes Peak National Cemetery east of Colorado Springs.

“I mean, there’s obviously questions after hearing that there is something going on but there’s not any information that I can go off of to really make any kind of judgment on it,” said Paul Saito Kahler, of Fountain, Colorado.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were dispatched to “a suspicious incident” at the funeral home on Wednesday.

They returned the next day with a search warrant along with the Fremont County Coroner’s Office.

The sheriff announced the number of improperly stored bodies that were discovered around midday Friday. It is unclear where they were being stored or in what condition the remains were found.

Under Colorado law, green burials are legal but state code requires that any body not buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated.

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said police are coordinating with other agencies to determine if there is any wrongdoing. The Colorado Department of Public Health and the FBI are now also involved in the investigation.

Authorities said Friday at the press conference they believe there is currently no health risk to the public. They declined to describe in detail the scene inside the building.

“It is not clear if a crime has been committed, that is a focus of the investigation at the state and federal level,” FBI spokeswoman Vikki Migoya said.

The Return to Nature Funeral Home says it does not use embalming chemicals, metallic, plastic, or unnatural items in its burials, according to its website.

It says green burial is a natural way of “caring for your loved one with minimal environmental impact” and lists the price as $1,895.

Trash bags could be seen Thursday outside the entrance of the company's building, with two law enforcement vehicles parked in front. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area and a putrid odor pervaded the air.

A hearse was parked at the back of the building, in a parking lot overgrown with weeds.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is asking that families who used the funeral home contact them so investigators can get ahold of them.

With Associated Press.