Jesse Bedayn

A sign covers the broken back window of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The remains of at least 189 decaying bodies were found and removed from the Colorado funeral home. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Fake ashes and rotting bodies prompt Colorado lawmakers to pass funeral home regulations

May 6, 2024 at 12:12 p.m.

Colorado lawmakers passed a sweeping bill to overhaul funeral home oversight after a series of horrific incidents, including sold body parts, fake ashes and the discovery of 190 decaying bodies.

Colorado Sun reporter Sandra Fish, left, turns over media credentials to a Pueblo County sheriff's deputy and arena security staffer during the Colorado Republican Party's state assembly inside Southwest Motors Events Center on the state fairgrounds in Pueblo, Colo., on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The state GOP had Fish ejected from the event because party chairman Dave Williams said he believes the outlet's "reporting to be very unfair." (Ernest Luning/The Gazette via AP)

Reporter’s expulsion from Colorado Republican Party state assembly causes uproar

April 9, 2024 at 8:49 a.m.

Journalists and elected officials, including the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, came to the defense of Colorado Sun reporter Sandra Fish.

Miles Harford appears in court to hear the charges against him on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Denver. Harford, a former funeral home owner accused of keeping a woman's corpse in the back of a hearse for two years and hoarding the cremated remains of 35 people, has been charged with forgery, theft and abuse of a corpse. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert, Pool)

More cremated remains found at funeral home owner’s Denver house, prosecutors say

March 8, 2024 at 1:43 p.m.

The owner of a Jefferson County funeral home who is accused of keeping a woman’s corpse in the back of a hearse for over a year, along with stashing over...

From left, George Rosales of Denver speaks as Colorado State Representative Matt Soper, R-Delta, and State Sen. Dhylan Roberts, D-Eagle, listen during a news conference to unveil bipartisan legislation to license funeral home professionals in Colorado Monday, March 4, 2024, the State Capitol in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Rotting bodies, fake ashes and sold body parts push Colorado to patch lax funeral home rules

March 4, 2024 at 4:22 p.m.

After nearly 200 bodies were found stacked and rotting in a Colorado funeral home, lawmakers have proposed bills to overhaul the state’s threadbare funeral home regulations, which failed to prevent...

Chrystina Page, right, holds back Heather De Wolf, as she yells at Jon Hallford, left, the owner of Back to Nature Funeral Home, as he leaves with his lawyers following a preliminary hearing, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, outside the El Paso County Judicial Building in Colorado Springs, Colo. Hallford and his wife, Carie Hallford, are each charged with 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of theft, four counts of money laundering and over 50 counts of forgery. De Wolf and Page are mothers of sons believed to be among the bodies found at the funeral home. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

Nearly 200 abused corpses were found at a Colorado funeral home. Why did it take authorities years to act?

February 9, 2024 at 4:33 p.m.

The newly unsealed arrest affidavits for Jon and Carie Hallford raise questions about how the mistreatment of corpses was able to continue for so long. Colorado has some of the...

Colorado state Sen. Tony Exum Jr. holds a placard during a rally to unveil an eviction protections bill being advanced by Democratic lawmakers Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Denver. Monthly rent has outpaced income across the U.S., and forced many to make tough decisions between everyday necessities and a home. In turn, a record number of people are becoming homeless and evictions filings have ratcheted up as pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and federal assistance ends. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A record number of Americans can’t afford their rent. Lawmakers are scrambling to help

February 7, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

Single mom Caitlyn Colbert watched as rent for her two-bedroom apartment doubled, then tripled and then quadrupled over a decade in Denver — from $750 to $3,374 last year.

New migrants face fear and loneliness. A town in Colorado has a storied support network.

December 24, 2023 at 11:52 a.m.

Millions of migrants have arrived in the U.S. in recent years, many in cities and counties across America. After an arduous journey, they face the next challenges of finding enough...

FILE – Kebrina Chirdon lights candles at a memorial outside of Club Q on Nov. 25, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo. After the mass shooting last November at the LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs that turned a drag queen’s birthday celebration into a massacre, the conservative community was forced to reckon with its reputation for being unwelcoming to gay, lesbian and transgender people. (Parker Seibold/The Gazette via AP, File)

LGBTQ+ advocates say work remains as Colorado Springs marks anniversary of Club Q attack

November 19, 2023 at 10:45 a.m.

After the mass shooting last November at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs that turned a drag queen’s birthday celebration into a massacre, the conservative community was forced to reckon...

Photos of Sara Lee Swoveland, center in the left image, and her family are seen in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Her daughter, Abby Hoveland, says she believes the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., gave her cement dust instead of her mother's ashes. The business where nearly 200 decaying bodies were discovered this month appears to have fabricated cremation records and may have given families fake ashes, according to information gathered by The Associated Press from customers and crematories. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Family sues Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found over alleged fake ashes

October 30, 2023 at 6:42 p.m.

A family filed a lawsuit Monday against a Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were found, alleging the owners allowed the remains of their loved ones to “rot” away...

Evidence suggests families received fake ashes from Colorado funeral home where 189 bodies were found

October 20, 2023 at 11:06 a.m.

A Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were discovered this month appears to have fabricated cremation records and may have given families fake ashes, according to information gathered by...

All Stories