A customer of the Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, Colorado has filed a class action lawsuit against the business for allegedly providing families with fake ashes instead of their loved ones' cremated remains. What did they receive instead? According to several other families interviewed by the Associated Press, the "the material seemed like dry concrete." They even tested the purported remains by mixing the powder with water and doing a side-by-side comparison with Quikrete.
"The reaction, it looked very, very similar, the consistency and everything," Tanya Wilson told KDRO. "Then when it dried, it dried into little tiny rocks, very, very similar. It gave me confirmation that I believe it's concrete."
So where are the bodies?
From Law and Crime:
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has said they found at least 189 dead bodies improperly stored at a building owned by Return to Nature, warning that the number could change as the investigation and process of identifying the victims continued[…]
The bodies turned up after locals noted an "abhorrent smell" coming from the property in question, the complaint stated. Co-defendant Jon Hallford allegedly tried and failed to pass the stench off as the result of his taxidermy hobby[…]
Colorado is the only state that doesn't require professionals in the funeral home and crematory industry to be licensed, according to KRDO. Return to Nature had reportedly been operating with an expired license.
