Colorado Funeral Home Exposed for Giving Fake Ashes & Hoarding Remains

A couple is facing 15 federal charges in addition to over 200 criminal counts at the state, including accusations of corpse abuse, money laundering, theft, and forgery. The federal charges alone could result in up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for each count, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

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Jon and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, allegedly deceived families by providing them with dry concrete instead of the cremated ashes of their loved ones. The couple was also accused of mishandling bodies, including burying the wrong body. Additionally, the Halfords are said to have collected over $130,000 from families for cremation and burial services that were never performed, as reported by the Associated Press.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff acknowledged the couple’s potential flight risk to U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Valhoalk, referencing their sudden disappearance to Oklahoma in October. The couple was arrested on November 28 after authorities discovered 190 decaying bodies stored improperly in a bug-infested building in Penrose. Some of these remains had been reportedly neglected since 2019, and the couple’s operational registration had expired by November 2022 without renewal. Public records previously exposed the Hallfords’ significant debts, evictions, lawsuits, and financial mismanagement, including a failure to pay for hundreds of cremations.

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The incident also revealed that the Halfords misused $882,300 in pandemic relief funds for personal purchases such as high-end vehicles, luxury vacations, shopping sprees, tuition fees, and cosmetic surgery. The couple also bought a GMC Yukon and an Infinity, valued at over $120,0000. Tanya Wilson said she purchased services for her mother’s cremation and learned that the ashes she was given were not her remains. Her mother’s body was eventually identified among those found in the Hallfords’ storage facility.

Investigations reveal that the Hallfords provided fake ashes and fraudulent cremation records to several families, claiming that services were performed by third-party providers who have since denied involvement. The Hallfords also falsely claimed affiliations with FEMA and the Department of Defense to suggest credibility and financial stability, which both agencies have denied. Their arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, while the Environmental Protection Agency has already demolished the Penrose location of Return to Nature Funeral Home to dispose of remaining medical and biological materials safely.

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