CAÑON CITY • In the coming months, investigators will be piecing together the identities of 115 bodies found this week in a seemingly desolate building in Penrose. 

The Return to Nature Funeral Home, a formerly Colorado Springs-based business, was using the modest 2,500-square-foot building, when neighbors reported a foul smell that led to an investigation this week.  

VIDEO: Authorities provide update on bodies found at ‘green’ funeral home in Penrose

Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper described the “very disturbing discovery,” as a hazardous situation, requiring specialty clean-up and equipment.

“Our priority and our focus is on the impacted families,” he said at a news conference in Cañon City on Friday. 

Cooper said officials will put up tents or fencing before clearing out the scene and identifying the bodies. Officials want to shield the property out of consideration of the families of the deceased. 

Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose faced financial, legal issues prior to raid, discovery of bodies

“After the scene is made safe, and personal protective equipment is issued, dignified treatment of the deceased is our next priority,” Cooper said.

Reached by The Gazette early Friday afternoon, Cecilia Converse said she had no complaints about her experience with the funeral home, which handled cremation of her daughter, 41-year-old daughter Amber Nichol Haines, who died April 16.

Return to Nature offered cremations and green funerals meaning the bodies are not embalmed and can be buried in a shroud or container made from natural materials. 

Everyone Converse spoke to and worked with was polite, Converse said, and the services prompt. 

Staff “told me it would take three days after I filled out the paperwork for them to decide whether or not I was legally able to make the decision of what to do with her remains,” Converse said. “Three days later I had her remains.”

Converse said she was still processing the macabre breaking news out of Penrose, and what it could mean.

“All I can say is … they were very nice. It was a good experience,” she said. “Now I’m concerned whose ashes I have.”

Investigators began searching the property, located off Colorado 115 in Penrose, 34 miles south of Colorado Springs, on Wednesday. 

Scattered businesses neighbor the building with its tall, unkept grass — almost working to hide the building in plain sight. 

Patrons of the post office located directly next door for the most part have paid it little attention, until the smell began wafting toward the direction of the back parking lot.

A man who works on property directly behind the funeral home said he’s never seen anyone go in or out of the building, and vehicles, a hearse and SUV, only appeared in June. 

The odor has been in the air for a month, he said. 

“I’d randomly smell it, but I didn’t think anything of it. I thought it was just roadkill or something like that,” he said.

Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said county and federal hazardous-materials officials surveyed the scene Wednesday night. It has since been declared a local disaster emergency.

Michelle Watkins approached the yellow tape surrounding the property in utter dismay.

“I heard about the story, but I didn’t realize it was here,” Watkins said, visibly shocked.

Keller described the scene as “truly horrific” and would not go into detail regarding how the bodies were stored, only that they were being stored improperly.

Officials confirmed one Fremont County employee was treated by paramedics for injuries resulting from the hazardous conditions present inside the building. The deputy is expected to make a full recovery. 

On Wednesday, the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration Program Director Zen Mayhugh spoke with the funeral home owner Jon Hallford after receiving reports about the smell. Hallford told the official he had a “problem” at the property and claimed he practiced taxidermy there, a state document said. Hallford agreed to meet later Wednesday at the building for an inspection. 

DORA Document: Colorado Funeral Home Suspension

The document went on to say Hallford attempted to conceal the improper storage of human remains. 

Officials largely left the building early Friday afternoon but had returned in the early evening. The investigation, expected to take months, will involve agencies such as the FBI, El Paso County Coroner’s Office, Douglas County Coroner’s Office, The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Governor’s Office Emergency Management Team and the Department of Regulatory Agencies.

Return to Nature Funeral Home: Details about the ‘green’ burials business

Forensic fingerprint technology, dental records and DNA will be used in identifying the remains left in the building, Keller said. 

FBI Special Agent Mark Michalek said specialized FBI forensic units from headquarters in Quantico, Va., will assist in in identifying remains, as well.

Sheriff Cooper did not speculate about arrests or potential charges. 

“The owners of the funeral home have so far been cooperative with the investigation,” Cooper said.

When the business opened in 2017, it was owned by Hallford, his wife, Carie Hallford, and Jack Dhooghe, The Gazette reported. 

Since then, the Hallfords have struggled with financial and legal issues.

Return to Nature Funeral Home has a location in Colorado Springs at 944 Elkton Drive, a portion of a large industrial building, with tenants on either side. 

The Colorado Springs Police Department confirmed the Elkton Drive location was searched on Thursday.

“Saw nothing out of the ordinary,” said Travis DeWitte, who works next door to the Return to Nature location. “Smells — that’s something else.”

DeWitte and several other neighboring business workers all reported a “horrific” or “putrid” smell in early September.  He said he initially thought it was something in his own trash can making the smell, which he said lingered for at least a week. With recent news, he’s reconsidered. 

Another business park neighbor was so overwhelmed by the odor that he approached Hallford about it. 

“He was back there laser-engraving some wood and said that was what (the smell) was, and that he would ventilate it,” said the neighbor. “It didn’t smell at all like burning wood, though.”

The neighbor said it took a call to the landlord and some additional days for the smell to dissipate.  

DeWitte said Hallford also approached him and asked if the “wood burning” smell was bothering him. 

“Seemed like an ordinary guy,” DeWitte said of Hallford. 

DeWitte and other business park neighbors said that business had seemed slow for Return to Nature in recent weeks. 

The Elkton location was closed Friday, a lone lamp left on in the interior. A minivan with tinted windows and an empty gurney in the back remained parked in the rear. 

The business had previous locations on Las Animas Street and East Platte Avenue. Neighbors of the East Platte building said the business was quiet. One resident, Ruben Villando, said he only recalls two services there.   

The types of environmental services Return to Nature was offering have been growing in popularity in recent years. But it’s unclear how many clients the business has drawn. 

The Return to Nature website lists 22 obituaries, with the oldest from late 2022. 

The business charged $1,895 for a natural burial and graveside ceremony. The price did not include a casket or cemetery space. In one case, the funeral home made a casket for a customer out of a cardboard box and burlap, The Gazette said previously.

The price list said cremation cost $1,290 and included a biodegradable cremation urn. 

The business announced on its website it was ending cremation services in July 2023.

Family members of the decedents who used the Return to Nature Funeral Home are asked to send an email to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 23-1941@fremontso.com.

Victims’ assistance personnel were expected to respond to messages on Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be victim assistance personnel available at 1901 E. Main St., Cañon City, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Any information on the criminal investigation can be sent to tips@fremontso.com.

Gazette writers Zachary Dupont, Glenn Wallace, Stephanie Earls and Nick Sullivan contributed to this report.