Funeral home owners who allegedly harbored at least 189 dead bodies and gave families fake ashes have been arrested

Jon and Carie Hallford ran the Returrn to Nature funeral home. (Mug shots: Muskogee County Sheriff

Jon and Carie Hallford (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office).

The couple who allegedly abandoned about 190 dead people in their funeral home facility have pleaded guilty to cheating the federal government out of more than $800,000 of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jon Hallford, 44, and Carie Hallford, 47, face up to 20 years behind bars, authorities said.

Their Colorado state case is pending for charges including abuse of corpse, money laundering and forgery.

More Law&Crime coverage: Funeral homeowner allegedly kept woman’s corpse in hearse for over a year outside his home

The Hallfords co-owned Return to Nature Funeral Home, which operated in Colorado Springs and Penrose. In October 2023, locals in Penrose noted an awful smell emerging from the property linked to the business.

Law enforcement found “approximately 190” dead bodies in the building, some of them dating back to 2019, federal authorities said Thursday. The 190th body was a female victim buried in a male Vietnam War veteran’s gave. Investigators in the bodies case previously said they were not quite certain regarding how many people were there or even the identities of every person.

Some victim families have claimed that the Hallfords gave them fake ashes instead of real remains.

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