Complaints began pouring in about the ‘abhorrent’ smell coming from the funeral home (Image: CBSNews)
A funeral home trusted by grieving families hid a horrifying secret – with nearly 200 bodies left to rot while loved ones were handed fake ashes. In October 2023, officials in Penrose, Colorado, began receiving complaints of an “abhorrent” smell coming from a building linked to Return to Nature Funeral Home.
The business, run by married couple Jon and Carie Hallford, marketed itself as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative, specialising in “green burials” that avoided the use of embalming chemicals. While Carie was the face of the business, guiding clients and covering paperwork, Jon was more behind the scenes and managed the technical side of the business. He described himself as a “third-generation funeral home director” with 19 years of experience. Carie, meanwhile, was recalled by clients as compassionate and warm, promising dignified care.
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Return to Nature Funeral Home was run by married couple Jon and Carie Hallford (Image: AP)
Cremations started at $1,200 (£889) and were “outsourced” to a local crematory. The Hallfords would then give the ashes to loved ones, reports The Mirror. It appeared that running a funeral business was successful, as the Hallfords drove luxury cars, went on expensive holidays and shopped in designer stores.
Return to Nature had an office where the Hallfords met with families, and a nearby 2,500-square-foot building that was run-down and appeared to be used for storage. After reports of a terrible smell were made in October 2023, police visited the building. At the time, in Colorado, there were no legal requirements for funeral directors to be licensed or even trained, so there had never been a routine inspection.
Upon speaking to Jon about the stench, he said it was connected to his taxidermy hobby. Officers were suspicious of liquid that appeared to be seeping under the door. They got a search warrant and returned the next day.
With the couple nowhere to be seen, police discovered bodies stacked up on top of each other in nearly a dozen rooms. The piles were so high they blocked doorways. Some had been there a few months, while others had been there since 2019.
In total, there were 189 bodies, with many in body bags, but others just wrapped in sheets (Image: Getty)
In total, there were 189 bodies, with many in body bags, but others just wrapped in sheets. Adults, children and foetuses were in the advanced stages of decomposition due to the lack of refrigeration. The floor was covered in bodily fluids, and the building was infested with insects and maggots. Buckets were scattered around to catch leaking fluids.
Also found inside the building was a sack of concrete mix, which was what Carie and Jon had given families in urns, pretending it was the ashes of their cremated loved ones. Before the discovery, some families had thought the ashes felt heavier than they should or were a strange texture. Some even contained foreign objects like bolts.
The police discovered the crematory that Return to Nature told families they used had stopped working with the business the year before due to unpaid bills.
After news of the horrific discovery spread, the couple went on the run. Jon turned his phone off so he couldn’t be tracked, but the FBI tracked Carie’s phone, and they were found hiding with Jon’s parents in Oklahoma. The pair were arrested.
Jon, 46, received 40 years for abuse of corpses and 20 years for wire fraud and Carie was sentenced to 18 years (Image: Getty)
Identifying the bodies was a huge task. Investigators used fingerprints, dental records and even hospital bracelets that were still on the wrist of some victims. The building was condemned and demolished. The police also exhumed two bodies that the Hallfords had overseen the burials for, and found the wrong people in the graves. One was supposed to be a male former army sergeant, but inside the coffin was a female. The number of victims rose to 191.
They had taken more than $130,000 (£96,300) from families for cremations that didn’t occur and nearly $900,000 (£666,900) in federal pandemic relief funds intended for struggling businesses.
Carie and Jon got divorced behind bars. They both made plea deals. Jon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and abuse of 191 corpses. He said, “I had so many chances to put a stop to everything and walk away, but I did not. My mistakes will echo for a generation. Everything I did was wrong.” Jon, 46, received 40 years for abuse of corpses and 20 years for wire fraud.
Carie, 49, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and abuse of corpses. She asked for leniency, claiming that she was a “scared and desperate mother” who was manipulated by her husband. Carie was sentenced to 18 years for wire fraud and awaits further sentencing for the abuse of corpses.
In May 2024, a new law was introduced in Colorado to overhaul the funeral business industry and add strict legislation. It strengthens oversight of the mortuary science sector, improves professional accountability and introduces new licensing requirements for funeral directors starting in 2027.
