A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home with 190 decaying bodies allegedly gave families dry concrete instead of cremated ashes.

Jon and Carie Hallford, who are the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly defrauding their customers, according to a press release by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

The couple is facing 13 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and are accused of using $882,300 in pandemic relief loans that were meant to help small businesses.

The indictment states that they bought a "vehicle, multiple vacations, entertainment, dining, tuition for a minor child, cryptocurrency, cosmetic medical procedures, jewelry," and merchandise from Amazon, with the money.

As reported by PEOPLE, the couple - who were arrested in November 2023 in Oklahoma - also face additional felony charges such as abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering, and forgery.

Authorities have said that residents in the area have complained about an odor from the facility, which prompted the search and led to the discovery of 190 decaying bodies improperly stored in the facility.

Furthermore, it has been stated in the federal indictment that the Hallfords are also arraigned for allegedly accumulating more than $130,000 from families for cremation or funeral services that they never provided as well as fabricating death certificates.

The filing also claims that they "provided the decedent’s family members, friends, or the designated next-of-kin with an urn filled with dry concrete mix instead of the actual cremains of the deceased".

In addition to this, the couple also allegedly gave the wrong body for cemetery burial on two occasions.

As the decomposing bodies were identified, families like Tanya Wilson - who hired Return to Nature to cremate her mother’s remains - have now learned that the ashes they'd received could not have been the remains of her loved one.

Speaking to NBC News, Wilson said: "I honestly feel like I have whiplash, and I can’t hold onto one emotion long enough to be able to process it."

"That is just thoroughly disgusting for a lack of a better term, just reading about all the money that they had," Wilson said about the loans the couple spent. "Just the price of the two vehicles that he bought ... it was enough to just do right by these families."

The court filing disclosed that the Hallfords each face 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted of the federal charges.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency revealed last month in a statement that the facility would be demolished. "Following the assessment, EPA has determined that demolition of the building is necessary to safely remove all residual medical and biological materials found in the building," the agency said, per PEOPLE.

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A former funeral home owner has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars after it emerged that she was selling body parts.

When a loved one passes away, it should be assumed that their body will be cared for to the highest of standards by those trusted to do so.

However, in the instance of two former funeral home owners in Colorado, it has come to light that they were profiting illegally by selling body parts - sometimes entire bodies - to unknowing medical training companies, per BBC News.

Megan Hess, 46, owned the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in the town of Montrose where she charged grieving families up to $1,000 for cremations that would never take place.

According to the prosecutors, she would also haggle with families that their loved ones would be cremated for free if they donated body parts from the deceased.

The BBC reports that, with the help of her 69-year-old mother Shirley Koch, 560 corpses were dissected between 2010 and 2018.

Using forged donor forms without consent, body parts including arms, legs, and heads were sold through Donor Services - Hess' side business that operated from the same premises.

As reported by the Guardian, Hess pleaded guilty to fraud in July and received the maximum term of 20 years behind bars, with her mother being sentenced to 15.

In the United States, it is illegal to sell organs for transplant as they must be donated - but selling body parts such as heads, arms, and spines for use in research is not regulated by federal law, and Hess capitalized upon this.

Families of those dissected by the mother and daughter duo testified against them in court with Erin Smith saying: "Our sweet mother, they dismembered her. We don’t even have a name for a crime this heinous."

Prosecutors stated that Hess lied to the families who entrusted their deceased loved ones with her and that instead of receiving the correct ashes, they would receive cremated ashes from different cadavers alongside ashes found in bins.

US district judge Christine M. Arguello referred to the case as: "The most emotionally draining case I have ever experienced on the bench."

Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by these crimes.

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A perplexing and unsettling discovery has unfolded on an Ohio farm, where a farmer was found to have been living in his RV with his deceased wife for six years.

In late December, Robert Rea, a 70-year-old farmer residing at Nettle Creek Farm & Nursery in Salem, Ohio, sadly passed away. His son, 29-year-old John Rea, subsequently reported his father's death to the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office in early January.

However, what transpired next left authorities stunned.

Upon notifying law enforcement about his father's death, John informed them that there was another body on the farm. Initially, deputies scoured the expansive 40-acre property without success. Nevertheless, Sheriff Brian McLaughlin and another officer soon spotted an RV behind the barn, leading them to the chilling discovery of Robert's deceased wife, Peggy Rea, inside the vehicle.

According to John's account, his father passed away on December 31, and he had been residing in the RV with Peggy's lifeless body for the past six years.

Peggy Rea had passed away in 2017 at the age of 64, PEOPLE reports.

The Sheriff's office has now disclosed that Robert had been caring for Peggy's remains by himself over the course of six years. Her body was found surrounded by herbs, wrapped in a blanket, and was remarkably well-preserved considering the duration of her passing, per WFMJ.

Sheriff McLaughlin expressed his astonishment, stating: "I've been doing this for almost 34 years and never seen anything like it. I have never seen a body that has been gone that long and still that intact. We've had bodies that have been gone for much, much less time and had next to nothing left."

Both Robert and Peggy appeared to have died of natural causes, according to reports. Peggy's body was sent to the Columbiana County Coroner's Department, then transferred to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's office. The latter conducted an evaluation to determine the cause of death and an approximate date of death, ultimately confirming that Peggy had been deceased for six years.

John revealed that his parents were devout Quakers who had expressed a desire to be buried at the same time, in accordance with their faith, per Cleveland.com.

As this perplexing and tragic case continues to raise questions, representatives from the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner have yet to respond to requests from PEOPLE for further information.

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The details of a gruesome discovery at the Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado have emerged in court.

The remains of nearly 190 individuals, including children, babies, and fetuses, were found in a state of advanced decomposition, covered in flies, and surrounded by pools of bodily fluids, per the Associated Press.

The horrifying incident came to light when locals reported a foul odor emanating from the abandoned building, leading the police to investigate on October 4.

The scene they encountered was beyond imagination, with partially covered corpses, swarms of flies and maggots, and a pool of bodily fluids six inches deep.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent Andrew Cohen, who was tasked with examining the scene, described it as something unforgettable.

The remains were stored at room temperature in a derelict building on the 1.9-acre site, with bags of concrete also discovered. Shockingly, many families received urns filled with powder instead of the cremated remains of their loved ones.

Cohen revealed that 23 of the bodies dated back to 2019, and 61 were from 2020. The decomposed fluids had stained the once-cream-colored floor dark brown, and investigators had to use cardboard to avoid slipping on the thick decomposition fluids.

Countless insects, including maggots, had infested the building to such an extent that the plain-colored carpet appeared patterned. Photos from the scene showed bags bursting open, spilling bodily remains.

The court also saw stills from a functional surveillance system inside the funeral home, showing Jon Hallford, one of the operators, surrounded by decomposing bodies in the month leading up to the discovery.

The FBI found that Jon Hallford had purchased almost a ton of concrete powder over several years, although there were no corresponding construction projects.

The Hallfords fled the state after the initial discovery but were arrested the following month in Oklahoma. They faced a range of charges, including abuse of corpses, forgery, theft, and money laundering.

Authorities suspect that financial difficulties drove the mistreatment of the bodies, as the Hallfords had accumulated substantial debt and faced lawsuits from suppliers. The couple had opened Return to Nature in 2017, offering environmentally friendly burials without embalming fluids and cremation services.

The FBI used DNA, fingerprints, and dental records to identify the corpses, with several dozen remaining unidentified. Families affected by this horrific incident expressed their grief, anger, and trauma, as their loved ones' remains had been left to rot for years.

Local officials plan to demolish the building where the bodies were found in the coming days. Colorado has previously seen cases of shocking funeral home mismanagement, including illegal body part sales and unlawful cremations, highlighting the need for increased oversight in the industry.

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A grieving widow has been left devastated after she was informed that authorities had discovered her husband’s body in a freezer, despite already having had his "ashes" turned into jewelry.

Law enforcement in Yorkshire, UK, removed 35 corpses and the ashes of others from a funeral directors' freezer, with the intention of investigating the “truly horrific incident”.

After her husband died in July last year, the widow and other close family members including his daughter and granddaughter had paid a large sum of money to have his ashes turned into crystal jewellery.

A friend of the family told The Telegraph: “But now they have found out that he wasn’t cremated and he has been in the freezer all this time. Apparently, the police have told them that he could have only been frozen under the direction of the coroner.

“The widow is distraught. The family thought they had his remains, and are now asking, ‘If it’s not him, then who is it?’”

It has been reported that the family were told that they will unfortunately have to re-identify their loved one's body.

Humberside Police vowed to put the “heartbroken families” at the center of the ongoing investigation and revealed at a press conference that they had received more than 1,000 calls from members of the public concerning the mix up.

The case is being worked on by more than 100 police officers and specialist staff.

Meanwhile, a 46-year-old unnamed man and a 23-year-old unnamed woman have been released on bail after police arrested the pair in connection with the case.

Billie-Jo Suffill, 33, who lost her 52-year-old father and 34-year-old brother in the space of five days believes she kissed an empty coffin as she bid farewell to her father.

She has suggested that her brother’s ashes could belong to another deceased person. She said: “I never actually got to see my dad’s body. I bet my dad was not even in the coffin – it was an empty coffin. I was kissing an empty coffin. When I think about it now it is disgusting.”

Deputy chief constable David Marshall told reporters in North Ferriby on Tuesday (March 12): “We are continuing to support the families involved through this extremely difficult and distressing time.”

He acknowledged that families were “understandably distraught” and said there were still so many questions that need to be answered.

He added: “Many will be shocked, horrified and retraumatised through grief following the disclosure of the facts of this case this week.”

Police cordoned off three Legacy Independent Funeral Directors sites after they received a report on Wednesday (March 13) related to the “storage and management processes relating to care of the deceased”.

The bodies were taken away between Friday morning and Saturday evening for formal identification, which is currently taking place at Hull’s city mortuary.

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, told BBC Radio 5 Live it had been a “complete shock to me and complete shock to the community”.

She said: “Everybody’s just reeling from it. People are not quite believing that something’s happened and there are hundreds of questions, which I completely understand everybody has at the moment.

“There are lots of different questions around ashes, around people who are still living and have plans with the company and, of course, questions from the families very closely involved. It’s impacted everybody.”

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