Page 7 - AHATA
P. 7

Get it ALL done at Do It Center and
                                                                                      Saturday                      Super Do It Center & Groceries
                                                                                      October 7, 2023

                                                                                      T: 582-7800
                                                                                      www.arubatoday.com
                                                                                      facebook.com/arubatoday
                                                                                      instagram.com/arubatoday

                                                                                                                                             Page 8
                 Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper
                 A r u b a ’ s   O N L Y   E n g l i s h   n e w s p a p e r
            Police  found  115  bodies  at  Colorado  'green'  funeral  home  while


            investigating putrid smells


            By Jesse Bedayn
            Associated Press
            CAÑON CITY, Colo. (AP) —
            At least 115 decaying bod-
            ies  were  found  at  a  stor-
            age  facility  for  a  “green”
            funeral   operator,   after
            neighbors  reported  abhor-
            rent smells emanating from
            the  location  in  rural  south-
            ern  Colorado,  police  said
            Friday, calling it a “disturb-
            ing  discovery.”The  owner
            tried  to  conceal  the  im-
            proper  storage  of  corpses
            and claimed he was doing
            taxidermy  at  the  facility,
            according to a suspension
            letter  sent  to  him  by  state
            regulators  that  was  made
            public  Friday.  No  one  has
            been  arrested  or  charged
            yet.The  Return  to  Nature
            Funeral Home facility in the
            small town of Penrose had
            been    unregistered   with
            the state for 10 months on
            Wednesday  when  own-
            er  Jon  Hallford  spoke  by   Authorities walk outside a closed funeral home where 115 bodies have been stored, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, in Penrose, Colo.
            phone with a state regula-                                                                                           (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
            tor the day after the smells
            were  reported  and  police  had no working voice mail.   El  Paso  County  parked  nal  wrongdoing,  Fremont  identify  each  decedent,
            launched an investigation    Officials  declined  to  de-  their trucks outside and dis-  County Sheriff Allen Cooper  families  will  be  notified  as
            Hallford    acknowledged  scribe  the  scene  inside  cussed  among  themselves  said at a news conference.         soon  as  absolutely  pos-
            that  he  had  a  “problem”  the  Return  to  Nature  Fu-  as they walked around the  “Without    providing   too  sible,”   Keller   said.Other
            at the property, though the  neral Home facility. A multi-  building. The funeral home  much  detail  to  avoid  fur-  Colorado  county  coroners
            Colorado  Office  of  Funer-  agency effort recover and  performed  “green”  burials  ther victimizing these fami-  had  agreed  to  help  while
            al  Home  and  Crematory  identify  the  remains  was  without embalming chemi-        lies there, the funeral home  the  FBI  and  state  police
            Registration document ob-    underway  in  Penrose,  a  cals or metal caskets. Local  where  the  bodies  were  and  emergency  manage-
            tained  by  The  Associated  town  of  about  3,000  peo-  residents said they smelled  improperly stored was hor-  ment  officials  worked  at
            Press  didn't  explain  what  ple  in  the  mountains  west  foul odors around the build-  rific,” Cooper said.     the scene. Meanwhile, Fre-
            Hallford  meant  with  his  of Colorado Springs.          ing for months but thought  Some identifications would  mont  County  declared  an
            taxidermy claim or how he  On  Friday,  a  sour,  rotten  little of it, assuming a dead  require  taking  fingerprints,  official  disaster  to  possibly
            tried  to  conceal  improper  stench  came  from  the  animal  or  septic  system  finding  medical  or  dental  make state funds available
            storage of human remains.    back of the building, where  was to blameFuneral home  records and DNA, Fremont  for the effort, Keller said.
            Text  messages  and  phone  windows     were    broken.  officials  were  cooperat-    County  Coroner  Randy
            calls  were  not  answered  Coroner’s officials from Fre-  ing  as  investigators  sought  Keller  said.“This  could  take   Continued on Page 2
            at the funeral home, which  mont  County  and  nearby  to  determine  any  crimi-      several  months.  As  we
   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12