Rotting Bodies Found At “Green” Funeral Home

Something stinks about this story, … literally.  

Police in Penrose Colorado, unfortunately got to celebrate Halloween early when they discovered 115 decomposing bodies at a macabre dungeon known as “The Return to Nature Funeral Home.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve written a column about this type of a so called “natural” or “green” funeral home. In January I wrote about New York approving these types of burials and about a particular location in Seattle called “Recompose.”

Here is the way that facility in Seattle describes what takes place. So If you’re interested in becoming plant food, or know someone that is, here is how the process works:

CUSTOM CEREMONIES

Recompose offers two thoughtfully curated spaces if you wish to spend time with your person or have an in-person or online service.  Our Services team is available to help make arrangements and to ensure the ceremony runs smoothly. Note: ceremonies are not included in the price of Recompose.

SOIL TRANSFORMATION

At the time of laying in, our staff places the body into a composting vessel surrounded by a mixture of wood chips, alfalfa, and straw carefully calibrated for each individual. Much like the moment when a body is interred into the earth during a burial, the laying in represents a moment of transition. The vessel is closed and the transformation into soil begins. The process, lasting eight to twelve weeks, will be tailored to your person and managed by the leading experts in human composting.

GIVING BACK

Once complete, similar to ashes from a cremation, the soil can be used however you choose—to enrich a garden, plant a tree, or spread across multiple locations. Recompose partners with conservation organizations, so you can choose to donate some, or all, of the soil to nourish and revitalize protected lands.

When I heard this, the first thing that crossed my mind was that this could be valuable information for any murderers that are slinking around out there. After all, the ingredients aren’t very exotic and the transformation period is a relatively short period of time.

That said, knowing how the bodies are handled in Seattle, what the hell was going on in Penrose? The funeral home was only 2,500 square feet and the community only has 3,000 residents, so how do you end up with 115 bodies? Obviously, they were not using the same process.

On their website, the Return to Nature Funeral Home says:

“Just you and the Earth, returning to nature.” 

“Interment of the bodies is done in a biodegradable casket, basket, shroud, or even nothing at all. No embalming fluid, no concrete vaults. As natural as possible.”

Apparently not. Allen Cooper, the Freemont County Sheriff described the air where the bodies where being stored as “horrific.” In fact it was the smell that alerted them to the problem.  One resident described the smell as a “septic tank,” while another Joyce Pavetti, said she had been catching whiffs of the putrid air for some weeks but assumed it was a dead animal.

On Friday, the AP learned that state regulators had looked into the situation and were told by the owner that the odor was from him getting involved in taxidermy. From what was eventually found, it doesn’t appear that the investigation by regulators was anything more than cursory. 115 decaying bodies can’t be hidden in a 2500 square foot area.

Sheriff Cooper was guarded in his statements in order “to avoid further victimizing the families.” He went on to say that the scene was made safe and “appropriate personal protective equipment is issued.” He then stressed that their first priority would be treating the deceased in a dignified manner.

Freemont County Coroner, Randy Keller told CNN that the investigation would be a “very, very, lengthy process,” that could take months to complete. The remains will need to be identified forensically, which includes fingerprinting and DNA testing.

Green burials are legal in Colorado. However, regulations dictate that bodies not buried within 24 hours must be properly refrigerated. FBI spokeswoman Vikki Migoya told the AP it is not clear if a crime has been committed and that it was being investigated.

One thing that struck me was that on the “Recompose” website the description of the burial procedure and ceremony was much more detailed. Also, the cost was $7,000 as opposed to $1,895 for a burial at “The Return to Nature Funeral Home.” So it would appear that this was a cut rate version of a green burial.

There are a whole list of questions, but number one has to be who are these people? It is highly doubtful that 115 people in such a small community died in the same time span. It is even more unlikely that so many would choose the uncommon choice of a green burial. In addition to who, other questions are how did they get there and where did they come from?

This is a creepy story. In the description on the Recompose website, the soil remains are returned to the family in a similar fashion as ashes are following a cremation. What was the end game here? This sounds more like a human junkyard than a funeral home. Someone has a lot of explaining to do.