Who are the owners of the Colorado funeral home ‘Return to Nature’? Investigation leads to arrest as couple faces hundreds of felony charges

The owners of a Colorado funeral home called Return to Nature were arrested and were booked into an El Paso County Jail on over 250 felony charges. Jon and Carie Hallford, the owners of the funeral home in Penrose, Colorado were taken into custody in Oklahoma on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.

The arrests followed the discovery of 190 bodies in the funeral home, which were described to be in "abhorrent conditions" as they had decomposed in there. The couple was arrested under several charges including abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering, and forgery.

Carie Hallford appeared in District Court in Colorado Springs via video on Wednesday. District Judge Samorreyan Burney maintained Carie's bail at $2 million cash while her husband Jon's bail was also set at $2 million after his advisement hearing on Friday. Both are facing 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, over 50 counts of forgery, five counts of theft, and four counts of money laundering, as per federal court records.

During the advisement hearing, Carie Hallford's public defender sought a reduction in bail to $50,000, citing her lack of a criminal record. However, Judge Burney noted the severity of the charges and refused the request. The Hallfords did not enter a plea, and their next court appearances are scheduled for December 5, 2023.

The case unfolded in early October when reports of an "abhorrent smell" led to the discovery of the bodies at the Penrose location, approximately 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs. Family members had been misled about their loved ones' fate and were falsely informed that they had been cremated.

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When did the investigation begin in the Colorado funeral home case?

The investigation in the Colorado funeral home case began on October 3, 203 when law enforcement was alerted of a strong odor coming from the funeral home. Subsequent court affidavits revealed that on October 4, 2023, Jon Hallford was contacted by an investigator from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. Hallford reportedly told the investigator that he was using the Colorado funeral home to learn "how to do taxidermy" and also said that he knew he had a problem there.

He was asked to meet with the investigator on a scheduled date but the Hallford failed to do so and subsequent attempts at communication also ceased. A search warrant was executed, leading to the discovery of 190 bodies stacked on top of each other at the Colorado funeral home, some without proper body bags. Some of these bodies had been in the funeral home since 2019, according to court documents.

The affidavit mentioned that Jon Hallford likely knew about the problems at the funeral home. The officials think Jon and Carie Hallford fled Colorado to avoid getting in trouble with the law. However, by mid-October, their phones were located in Oklahoma which was where they were arrested before they were extradited to Colorado.