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‘Unconscionable’: Family given fake ashes by Colo. funeral home

  • 110 individuals have been positively identified and work is ongoing
  • Victim Abby Swoveland: "What they've done was unconscionable"
  • The funeral home couple is being held on a $2 million cash bond

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(NewsNation) — The owners of a Colorado funeral home were arrested on felony charges and families are preparing to sue after the discovery of 190 sets of decaying remains at one of their facilities, including some that apparently had been languishing for four years.

Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Oklahoma on suspicion of committing the crimes of abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery, which are all felonies. 

Abby Swoveland joined NewsNation’s “Banfield” to discuss receiving fake ashes after her mother’s death, saying, “What they’ve done was unconscionable and they need to go to prison for this and they need to go away for a long time.”

Swoveland’s mother passed away in August and the accusations against the Return to Nature Funeral Home bagan to surface at the beginning of October.

“We had some suspicions from the beginning,” Swoveland said.

According to reports, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation Oct. 4 after neighbors reported an odor emanating from the Penrose, Colo., facility.

“We immediately called the crematorium that was listed on her death certificate and they had no record of my mom,” Swoveland said. “They said that there would have been a disc and a formal certificate of cremation. And we had neither of those things.”

A total of 110 individuals have now been positively identified and work is ongoing to identify 80 more, according to Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller.

“Individuals are being identified through fingerprints, dental records and medical hardware,” Keller said. “Once we have exhausted these methods, we will move on to DNA testing, if necessary.”

Swoveland’s mother was among those identified by officials.

“She has been handled and cremated for real this time by a local funeral home with very professional people working,” Swoveland said.

At least one family involved in the investigation has filed a lawsuit against the funeral home.

“They’ve been scamming families and causing irreparable immeasurable damage to so many people that they don’t deserve to be among us anymore,” Swoveland said. “They lost their right for that.”

The couple is now being held on a $2 million cash bond. 

Andrew Swan, the attorney representing families, joined “Banfield” to discuss the case, saying the suspects “could face as little as probation.”

A GoFundMe for the victims has been created.

Banfield

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