Funeral Home Scandal: 189 Decaying Bodies Found — Families Given Fake Ashes; Son Finds Mother Among Victims

Derrick Johnson buried what he believed were his mother’s ashes beneath a golden dewdrop tree overlooking his grandchildren on Maui. Days later, while teaching an eighth-grade gym class on Feb. 4, 2024, he received a call that would upend everything: the FBI told him there had been an incident involving the Colorado funeral home he had used.

Derrick Johnson, whose mother's body was one of 189 left to decay in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., poses for a portrait in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Shocking Discovery

Investigators later found 189 decomposing bodies stored in a 2,500-square-foot facility owned by Return To Nature, a Colorado Springs funeral business run by Jon and Carie Hallford. Authorities say bodies were stacked in nearly a dozen rooms, some so high they blocked doorways, and many showed advanced decomposition. The scene included swarms of insects and maggots, leaking body bags and buckets placed to catch fluids.

FILE - A hearse and van sit outside the Return to Nature Funeral Home, in Penrose, Colo., Oct. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Evidence of Fraud and Deception

Prosecutors allege the Hallfords not only stored decaying remains but also handed families fake ashes, diverted roughly $130,000 of client cremation payments, and admitted to defrauding nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era federal relief intended for small businesses. Investigators found a large bone grinder and a bag of Quikrete that they say may have been used to mimic cremation ashes. Surveillance footage and court affidavits describe workers moving bodies and, in one instance, transferring decomposition from a gurney onto other corpses.

Photographs of Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes, whose body was one of 189 left to decay in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., are stacked in her sister's home in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A Son’s Trauma

Johnson, 45, learned his mother, Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes, was among the bodies stored at the Penrose building after FBI agents confirmed the identification. He described receiving a blue box of gray powder he had been told were his mother’s ashes and later learning those remains were not authentic. The revelation triggered panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder; Johnson has since sought therapy and joined virtual support meetings with other affected families.

Derrick Johnson, whose mother's body was one of 189 left to decay in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., holds family photos in his aunt's home in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“When the judge passes out how long you’re going to jail, and you walk away in cuffs, you’re gonna hear me,” Johnson said, vowing to speak at sentencing and press for the maximum penalty.

Investigation Details

Authorities identified remains using fingerprints, hospital bracelets and medical implants. One case prompted an exhumation at Pikes Peak National Cemetery, where a casket reportedly contained a different, deteriorated body than the veteran who had been interred. The Hallfords were arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 and later pleaded guilty to charges related to abuse of nearly 200 corpses and fraud.

Aftermath and Sentencing

Jon Hallford faces between 30 and 50 years in prison at his upcoming sentencing; Carie Hallford’s sentencing is scheduled for April after plea agreements were accepted in December. Families and lawmakers have called the discovery a major betrayal that exposed weaknesses in funeral-industry oversight, prompting Colorado to tighten regulations governing funeral homes and crematories.

Johnson traveled to Colorado in March 2024 to view his mother’s remains and personally initiate her cremation after identification. Though therapy has helped him engage more with his students and family, he remains uncertain whether a harsh sentence will bring the closure he seeks.