At least 189rotting corpses were found at afuneral home as an “abhorrent smell” led cops to the “horrific” scene.
Authorities raided the Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, Colorado on October 3 after locals complained of a “putrid dead animal smell” seeping from the building. The total number of bodies found were initially believed tostand at 115, which were taken to El Paso’s County Coroner’s Office.
But on Tuesday (October 17), officials began to grasp the full scale of the grisly scenario and uncovered a total of 189 decomposing human remains. Fremont sheriff Allen Cooper described the scene as “horrific”.
READ MORE: Cops find 115 rotting bodies at 'green' funeral home after 'putrid' stench complaints
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Joyce Pavetti, 73, could see the funeral home from her home and told the Daily Mail: “We just assumed [the smell] was a dead animal.” Another neighbour concluded that the stench was coming from a septic tank.
Now, a specialist FBI team, which responds to mass casualty events like an air crash disaster, has been tasked with identifying the bodies. El Paso coroner Leon Kelly said it could take weeks to identify the remains found.
Owner Jon Hallford of the funeral home, which specialised in “green burials” and dealing with death the “natural way”, reportedly missed a number of payments and got evicted from one of their properties in recent months.
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He acknowledged that Penrose facility had a “problem”, according to a citing order.
Green burials are legal in the state, however, officials demand that a body which hasn't been buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated. The building had been left neglected and a stench began to fester. Cops entered the building with a search warrant to find the swathe of decomposing bodies. A number of families who paid for cremations never got their loved ones returned.
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Police said that the owners were cooperating as investigators determine whether a crime has been committed.
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