Colorado’s funeral home industry is facing a reckoning after two grisly discoveries, just 30 miles apart, have exposed a pattern of shocking neglect, fraud, and betrayal of grieving families. In the small town of Penrose and the city of Pueblo, authorities have unearthed a combined total of more than 200 decomposing bodies, hidden for years by funeral home operators entrusted with the sacred task of caring for the dead. The two cases, while separate, have unfolded in tandem—each revealing disturbing gaps in oversight and a profound violation of public trust.
On August 20, 2025, Colorado state inspectors made a chilling discovery inside Davis Mortuary in Pueblo. Behind a door concealed by a cardboard display, they found roughly 20 decomposing bodies, some of which had been awaiting cremation for as long as 15 years. According to The Pueblo Chieftain, the room’s existence came to light during the first inspection conducted under new state rules designed to prevent exactly this kind of abuse. Brian Cotter, the mortuary’s owner and a three-term county coroner, had asked inspectors not to enter the hidden room. But the strong odor of decomposition gave the secret away, and what investigators found inside was nothing short of appalling.
“This is a profound violation of trust and a heartbreaking betrayal of the families who entrusted their loved ones to this funeral home,” Colorado Bureau of Investigation director Armando Saldate III said at a press conference, as reported by the Associated Press. “This is the day no one wants to see.” Saldate explained that credible information had emerged that Davis Mortuary had been improperly storing human remains for years, providing fake cremains to families in some cases.
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) swiftly suspended Davis Mortuary’s license, citing “willfully dishonest conduct and/or committed negligence in the practice of embalming, funeral directing, or providing for final disposition that defrauds or causes injury or is likely to defraud or cause injury.” The suspension order, obtained by The Pueblo Chieftain, stated that the funeral home had “failed to embalm, refrigerate, cremate, bury, or entomb human remains within twenty-four hours after taking custody of the remains.”
Authorities have not yet removed all the bodies from Davis Mortuary, nor have they provided a precise count of the deceased. “Our top priorities are to respectfully and humanely process the scene, identify all the deceased, and notify their families and loved ones. This will take some time, unfortunately,” Saldate told reporters. The investigation remains ongoing, and as of August 22, 2025, Cotter has not been arrested and no charges have been filed. Investigators, aided by state troopers trained in hazardous materials, continue to collect evidence from the scene.
Shockingly, this is not the first time Colorado has made national headlines for funeral home abuses. Nearly two years earlier, in Penrose, close to 200 decaying bodies were discovered left to rot in the Return to Nature Funeral Home. That case, which unfolded just 30 miles from Pueblo, involved Jon and Carie Hallford, who operated the business. The Hallfords accepted payments from grieving families for cremation services, only to hide the bodies, send fake ashes, and spend the ill-gotten gains on designer goods and luxury cars, according to KRDO13 Investigates.
The scheme unraveled after neighbors in Penrose reported a foul odor coming from the Return to Nature property. When deputies entered the building, they found 189 decomposing bodies stacked on top of each other. The Hallfords pleaded guilty to 190 state charges of abuse of a corpse, but their sentencing was delayed until federal fraud proceedings were complete. Jon Hallford also pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges and is already set to serve 20 years in prison for that crime—a sentence he has appealed. On August 22, 2025, he faces sentencing for 191 state counts of abuse of a corpse, with the plea agreement calling for another 20 years, to run concurrently with his federal sentence. Carie Hallford’s sentencing on state charges is still pending, with her federal sentencing scheduled for December.
KRDO13 Investigates has chronicled the Return to Nature Funeral Home scandal in depth, revealing how families were deceived and left to mourn twice—first for their loved ones, and then for the loss of trust in those meant to care for them. The Hallfords’ case was so egregious that it spurred lawmakers to tighten regulations on the funeral industry, leading to the very inspection that exposed the horrors at Davis Mortuary.
According to The Pueblo Chieftain, Colorado has long had some of the weakest oversight of funeral homes in the country. There were no routine inspections or qualification requirements for operators, a regulatory gap that allowed abuses to go undetected for years. The state’s new rules, enacted in response to the Return to Nature debacle, mandate regular inspections and stricter licensing standards. The discovery at Davis Mortuary marks the first major test of these reforms, and it’s clear the system is still struggling to catch up with the scale of the problem.
Investigators working on the Davis Mortuary case include some of the same officials who handled the Return to Nature investigation. “The good news is that we have some experience with this,” Saldate told reporters, trying to strike a note of reassurance amid the grim news. The process of identifying the dead and notifying families is painstaking, and authorities have urged patience as they work through the backlog of tragedy.
The broader community has been left reeling. Many are asking how such abuses could have persisted for so long, and what further steps are needed to ensure the dignity of the deceased and the peace of mind of their families. The cases have sparked renewed calls for even tougher oversight, more frequent inspections, and stricter penalties for those who betray the trust of the communities they serve.
Meanwhile, the families affected by both scandals are left to grapple with unimaginable grief and anger. For some, the pain is compounded by the knowledge that the ashes they received may be nothing more than dried concrete, as was the case at Return to Nature. Others are still waiting for answers, hoping that investigators will soon be able to identify their loved ones and provide some measure of closure.
As the investigations continue, Colorado’s funeral home industry faces an uncertain future. The state’s new regulatory regime will be put to the test, and lawmakers are likely to face mounting pressure to close any remaining loopholes. For now, the focus remains on bringing justice to the victims and restoring a sense of dignity to the process of saying goodbye.
In the wake of these scandals, one thing is clear: the trust placed in those who care for the dead is sacred, and when that trust is broken, the consequences are devastating for families and communities alike.
