Secrets and Skulduggery at the Cemetery

In 2023, a chilling truth emerged about two Colorado funeral homes. Investigators discovered 189 decaying bodies that had been improperly stored, while grieving families received fake ashes made from dry concrete. Death certificates falsely listed crematories that had never performed the cremations, exposing a profound betrayal of trust. The case revealed that some so-called urban legends about mishandled remains are not fiction at all.

Return to Nature Funeral Home Scandal in Penrose, Colorado

Located in Penrose, Return to Nature Funeral Home marketed environmentally friendly “green burials,” promising families that their loved ones would be buried without embalming chemicals and later cremated.

However, in 2023 the business became the center of a disturbing investigation. Residents reported a powerful odor coming from a building owned by the funeral home. Witnesses described the smell as similar to a broken septic system mixed with rotting fish.

When authorities obtained a search warrant and entered the building, they discovered horrifying conditions inside. Investigators found a large bone grinder and a nearby bag of Quikrete, raising questions about whether the material had been used to imitate cremated ashes.

Inside the facility, bodies were stacked in multiple rooms, in some cases blocking doorways. Investigators encountered swarms of insects and maggots throughout the building. In several areas, workers had placed five-gallon buckets beneath corpses to collect leaking decomposition fluids.

Authorities ultimately discovered 191 bodies stored inside the property between 2019 and 2023.

Officials identified many of the remains using fingerprints, hospital wristbands, and medical implants.

One particularly disturbing discovery involved a veteran whose family believed he had been buried at Pikes Peak National Cemetery. When officials exhumed the grave, they instead found the body of an unidentified woman wrapped in duct tape and plastic sheets. Investigators later located the veteran’s remains inside the Penrose building, badly decomposed and infested with maggots.

Authorities arrested funeral home owner Jon Hallford in connection with the case.

During the trial, prosecutors presented surveillance video recorded in September 2023. The footage showed Hallford walking through the facility. Outside the building, a dilapidated hearse sat near cracked concrete and dried grass. A single window air conditioner served as the only cooling system for the building, while other windows had been sealed.

In one segment of the video, Hallford flipped a body from a gurney onto the floor. The deceased person wore a hospital diaper and socks.

According to an affidavit filed in court, Hallford then appeared to wipe decomposition fluids from the gurney onto other bodies in the room before wheeling two additional corpses into the building.

In February 2026, a judge sentenced Hallford to 40 years in federal prison. His former wife, Carie Hallford, also faced charges and awaited sentencing scheduled for April.

Both had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Investigators determined the couple defrauded grieving families and illegally obtained approximately $900,000 in COVID-19 relief funds while operating the funeral home.

The shocking case remains one of the most disturbing funeral home scandals in recent Colorado history.

Davis Mortuary Investigation in Pueblo, Colorado

Just months after authorities uncovered the shocking “charnel house” at Return to Nature Funeral Home, investigators discovered another disturbing case involving a Colorado funeral home.

In 2023, state inspectors found at least two dozen improperly stored bodies inside a hidden room at Davis Mortuary. The facility was owned by Brian Cotter, who also served as the elected coroner of Pueblo County. Inspectors located the concealed room after following a strong odor of decomposition coming from behind a cardboard display.

After the discovery, the governor of Colorado called on Cotter to resign from his position as county coroner.

Cotter later admitted to investigators that some of the bodies had been entrusted to the funeral home for cremation as long as 15 years earlier. Instead of performing the cremations, he gave grieving families ashes that did not belong to their loved ones.

Cotter was first elected as Pueblo County coroner in 2014, with his term scheduled to run through 2027. In 1989, he and his brother Chris Cotter purchased Davis Mortuary. Their father had also operated funeral homes throughout Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.

According to the funeral home’s website, Davis Mortuary traces its origins to founder A. Ray Davis, who began serving families in the Pueblo area in 1905 and later installed southern Colorado’s first crematory in 1971.

While serving as county coroner, Cotter earned an annual salary of approximately $131,700.

By October 2025, investigators had identified 24 of the bodies discovered in the hidden room. Records showed the remains had arrived at the funeral home between 2010 and 2012. Agents also removed multiple containers containing bones and suspected human tissue, representing an unknown number of additional deceased individuals.

The mortuary building also served as a Masonic Temple. Cotter had previously held leadership there and was listed as president of the temple from 2009 to 2010.

Following the investigation, Cotter resigned from the coroner’s office in August.

State regulators suspended Davis Mortuary and ordered it to cease operations. The owners eventually surrendered their licenses to operate both a funeral home and a crematory. Investigators also determined that the mortuary had falsified death certificates.

As of March 2026, authorities with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation continue to investigate the Cotters, though prosecutors have not filed criminal charges.

Several families have filed lawsuits against the mortuary in small claims court. In one case, a judge ordered Brian Cotter to pay a woman $3,000 for cremation expenses and court costs.

The investigation remains ongoing.