Demolition of infamous funeral home underway
Demolition o f the Return t o Nature F uneral Home i n Penrose began Tuesday after a ceremony for the families of the deceased v ictims who were placed in the building and abandoned by t hose who were e ntrusted w ith the care of their remains.
Carie Hallford, 46, and her husband, Jon Hallford, 43, are accused of accepting payment from f amilies o f decedents for cremations, piling 189 bodies in the Penrose facility, and giving f amilies falsified death certificates and bags of concrete powder in place of their loved ones’ ashes. The couple is charged with several felonies, as well as 15 federal crimes.
“The b eginning of demolition t oday h opefully marks a day of c losure and the continued healing for all victims associated with t his horrific event,” Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller s aid during the ceremony. “… I would ask that e veryone r ealize that my office has walked the path with every family here. It has been very emotional for us, as well, and I want you to know that we share in your pain, grief and anger.”
In e arly O ctober, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was c ontacted r egarding a foul odor from the building at 31 Werner Road.
Upon further investigation, 189 bodies ranging in age from a stillborn baby to some in their 80s, all in various stages of decomposition, were discovered stacked in several of the rooms inside the building. The earliest date of death for the bodies was September 2019, and the most recent date was August 2023.
All decedents were r emoved from the facility as of Oct. 13 and transported to the El Paso County Coroner’s Office.
As o f Tuesday, K eller said a ll but 17 have b een identified.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and its contractors conducted an assessment of the property on Nov. 15 to determine the next steps in conducting a “removal action,” including demolishing and disposing of building materials.
After the assessment, the EPA determined t hat demolition of the building is necessary t o safely r emove biological and hazardous materials found in the building. EPA developed a work plan t o conduct the demolition, which began Tuesday and is e xpected to take 10 days, depending on the weather.
To prepare t he s ite for demolition, EPA’S contractors h ave conducted rodent control and sprayed a disinfectant and odor suppressant into the interior of the building.
For the disinfectant process, officials used peroxyacetic acid, or PAA, essentially vinegar.
Excavators s tarted t o break up the building from the top down and will remove l arge p ieces of t he structure while working to keep it within the foundation footprint. The debris will b e loaded i nto lined trucks.