(Cañon City) Police said Friday they found at least 115 bodies at a “green” funeral home in Colorado, United States, under investigation for improper handling of bodies.
Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said he is coordinating with other agencies to determine whether any wrongdoing was committed.
Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, has performed “green” burials without chemicals, embalming, or metal caskets.
The investigation focused on a building belonging to the funeral home where residents of the municipality reported smelling a foul odor before the police intervened.
Deputies were called to the one-story building Tuesday evening in connection with a suspicious incident. Investigators from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office returned the next day with a search warrant and found poorly preserved remains.
Authorities said at a news conference Friday that they believe there is currently no risk to public health. They declined to describe in detail the scene inside the 232-square-meter facility, located next to the city’s post office, the size of an average American home.
“It is unclear whether a crime was committed, which is the focus of the investigation at the state and federal levels,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spokeswoman Vikki Migoya.
Investigators were in contact with the funeral home operators and they were cooperating, Cooper said.
Under Colorado law, green burials are legal, but state code requires that any body not buried within 24 hours be properly refrigerated.