FILE – A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., on Oct. 5, 2023. A family filed a lawsuit Monday, Oct. 30, against the Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found, alleging that the owners, a husband and wife, allowed the remains of their loved ones to “rot” away while they sent families fake ashes. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP, File)
A man has sued a funeral home for allegedly giving families fake ashes while the real dead were left to decompose in a building.
“In death, these men and women deserved to be treated with respect and dignity,” plaintiff attorney Andrew Swan said, according to The Associated Press. “Instead, they were defiled.”
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has said they found at least 189 dead bodies improperly stored at a building owned by Return to Nature, warning that the number could change as the investigation and process of identifying the victims continued.
“We are conducting extensive coordination efforts as we focus on the identification of the decedents and provide notifications to ensure the families are given accurate information to prevent further victimization as they continue to grieve their loved ones,” Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said.
The plaintiff in this lawsuit, Richard Law, entrusted his late father, Roger Law, to the funeral home owned by couple Jon and Carie Hallford in 2020, according to the complaint.
The Colorado company was supposed to cremate the man, and they gave the son what were supposed to be Roger Law’s ashes.
Now, it is alleged that Roger, a grandfather of five children, was among the many bodies found in the building.
“Richard Law has come to learn that Roger’s was one of the 189 bodies that had piled up at Return to Nature Funeral Home located at 31 Werner Road, Penrose, Colorado (the ‘Penrose Property’),” the complaint stated. “Nearly three years after his death, Roger still has never been cremated. Instead, he was allowed to decompose in squalid conditions at the Penrose property. Roger deserved better. So did the other 188 victims found at the Penrose property.”
The bodies turned up after locals noted an “abhorrent smell” coming from the property in question, the complaint stated. Co-defendant Jon Hallford allegedly tried and failed to pass the stench off as the result of his taxidermy hobby.
Speaking to Law&Crime on Tuesday, attorney Andrew Swan differentiated these allegations from a hypothetical in which the funeral home might have lost bandwidth over a busy week. Return to Nature had been taking the bodies, charging people, and lying about the accumulation for years, he said.
“They knew what they were doing was disgusting, but they kept doing it,” he said.
In some cases, such as Roger’s, the owners allegedly had given the loved ones “counterfeit ashes” to the families and falsified death certificates, according to the complaint.
The document names Richard Law as the only plaintiff, but it’s a class action lawsuit.
Other loved ones who stepped forward have previously cast skepticism on the so-called ashes they received. Four families who’ve spoken to The Associated Press said the material seemed like dry concrete.
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One of the relatives, Tanya Wilson, told KDRO about doing side-by-side testing in which she mixed water separately with Quikrete and the so-called ashes that supposedly belonged to her mother, Yong Anderson.
“The reaction, it looked very, very similar, the consistency and everything,” Wilson told KDRO. “Then when it dried, it dried into little tiny rocks, very, very similar. It gave me confirmation that I believe it’s concrete.”
Richard Law turned over to the FBI what he had been told were his father’s ashes, Swan told Law&Crime. The forensic results had yet to return, but the agency believes it to be concrete, he said.
The CBI declined to comment when we asked about the nature of the so-called ashes. Chief of Staff Susan Medina cited the ongoing investigation.
The FBI did not immediately respond to Law&Crime.
Colorado is the only state that doesn’t require professionals in the funeral home and crematory industry to be licensed, according to KRDO. Return to Nature had reportedly been operating with an expired license.
Speaking to Law&Crime, Swan criticized the lax regulatory status quo and called for the state to bolster its enforcement mechanism and pick up the pace in its inspections.
Though he voiced confidence in the criminal investigation, he said it is important for a lawsuit like this to keep pressure on bad actors.
He complimented his client, Richard Law, for showing so much dedication to the case. Richard had developed some closure after losing Roger three years ago, but learning the truth “ripped that scab off,” Swan said.
“He takes a lot of satisfaction in standing up to this misconduct on behalf of other families,” he said.
Law&Crime could not immediately reach Return to Nature; the web address attributed to their company is down, and a number linked to them is out of service.
Note: We added details from an interview with Andrew Swan. The CBI also responded to a request for comment.
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