The owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home — a Colorado business once known for its environmentally friendly burials and cremations — have been ordered to pay out nearly $1 billion to the families and loved ones of 190 victims whose bodies were found rotting inside.
Jon and Carie Hallford established their “green” Penrose- based business some seven years ago with the promise of providing burials and cremations that are “as natural as possible,” according to its website, which has since been scrubbed from the internet. They said the bodies were not embalmed, but rather buried in biodegradable caskets.
In reality, the remains of scores of people were improperly stashed at their maggot-infested storage facility, left to decay at room temperature.
An investigation was launched into the Return to Nature Funeral Home back in October 2023, after local residents reported a foul smell emanating from the Penrose property, located about 30 miles south of Colorado Springs. Upon uncovering the bodies, authorities said the Hallfords provided customers urns of fake ashes rather than their loved ones’ remains. Other bodies were, meanwhile, dumped in mismarked gravesites, according to prosecutors.
The couple, who had long been struggling financially, was subsequently arrested and face hundreds of criminal charges in separate state and federal cases, including abuse of a corpse, and allegations they took $130,000 from families for cremations and burials they never provided. They’re also accused of abusing the COVID-19 pandemic relief fund.
A judge has since ordered the Hallfords to pay their victims $950 million, resolving a class action lawsuit brought by more than 100 grieving family members and loved ones. While they can attempt to collect what they’re owed, it’s unlikely the disgraced funeral home owners have the resources to pay, rendering the settlement almost entirely symbolic.
“I’m never going to get a dime from them, so, I don’t know, it’s a little frustrating,” said Crystina Page, who had hired the funeral home to cremate her son’s remains in 2019.
“If nothing else,” Page said, this judgment “will bring more understanding to the case.”
“I’m hoping it’ll make people go, ‘Oh, wow, this isn’t just about ashes,’” she said, adding there are far more victims affected than just those listed in the lawsuit.
Jon Hallford remained behind bars on Wednesday while Carie is free on bail.
With News Wire Services