EPA to Demolish Colorado ‘Return to Nature’ Funeral Home Where Nearly 200 Bodies Discovered

The Environmental Protection Agency will demolish the Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado, where the decaying bodies of nearly 200 people were discovered. 

Investigators have been combing through the Penrose Funeral Home after neighbors reported foul smells emanating from the building. The tips led local and federal authorities to discover 190 bodies that were improperly stored and rotting. The business, which performed “green burials,” is owned by Carie and Jon Hallford, who now face criminal charges. 

The Fremont County Department of Public Health & Environment requested the EPA demolish the building after the department declared the funeral home a public health risk. The EPA was scheduled to evaluate the property in mid-November. 

The EPA announced last week it would demolish the building in January “to safely remove biological and hazardous materials found in the building.” 

Green burials are legal in Colorado but mandate that anybody not buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated. Arrest affidavits for the Hallfords say "human decomposition fluids and insects lined the floors,” the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. 

Identifying the human remains is expected to be a “lengthy process,” Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said at a news conference. Families believe they were duped with fake human remains, such as concrete mix instead of ashes, leaving them uncertain about what came of their loved ones' bodies.

The discovery was so ghastly it prompted Gov. Jared Polis to declare an emergency disaster to provide resources to investigating agencies. 

The Hallfords were arrested in Oklahoma after fleeing Colorado, where they face more than 250 charges. The couple is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday and remain in police custody on a $2 million bond each.