‘Horrific’: 189 bodies found and removed from Colorado ‘green’ funeral home - eviltoast

Authorities find more bodies after initial report of 115 two weeks ago, when owners were evicted and police investigated foul odor

The remains of at least 189 decaying bodies were found and removed from a Colorado funeral home, up from about 115 reported when the bodies were discovered two weeks ago, officials said Tuesday.

The remains were found by authorities responding to a report of a foul odor at the Return to Nature funeral home inside a decrepit building in the small town of Penrose, Colorado.

Efforts to identify the remains began last week with help from an FBI team that gets deployed to mass casualty events like airline crashes. Fremont sheriff Allen Cooper described the scene as “horrific”.

    • jarfil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      61
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      When you have a loved one pass away… and you get forced to pony up $10k for a basic service, cremation in a nice casket, and a pretty expensive “basic” urn for the ashes, because the funeral home won’t let you use anything cheaper like a pine box or a shroud, with the only choice being between an “eco gas” cremation in your own city vs. a $2k cheaper “non eco” one a city over… you’ll understand why people call funeral homes parasites and look for alternatives.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          If they don’t allow that, then they’re descriminating against all of us Dudists!

      • EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        I just had to do this. It was less than $4K for cremation, two services with funeral home staff (multi-hour, including on location at the church), and all of the guest books/cards/etc, plus announcements. I’d have to look at my paperwork for the exact amount.

        They even told us to bring our own urn because it would be cheaper than anything the funeral home could provide, so we did.

        • jarfil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I guess different countries, but that sounds more reasonable. We had to take a flash loan, when they saw my father was about the same age, they tried to upsell him to a $6K funeral insurance plan… imagine that: “so we see your wife just died, have you thought about dying yourself? Get a second one for 40% less!”

        • jarfil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Checked on that, it’s a 2K€ minimum community service, they take the body, cremate, then dump the ashes into a common pit, no extras. Next of kin are still supposed to pay the 2K€ “when their economy improves” (basically if you’re earning anything above minimum wage, then you’re on the hook).

          Also if your loved one dies at home, “refusing the body” is not really an option, you want the body out ASAP before it stinks the whole place (had my mom for a day, took a couple weeks to get rid of the smell).

          • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            That is why every funeral home has those big garage doors. If you don’t see it from the street just look in the back. Dialysis bodies smell the worst. Imagine rotting meat soaked in urine.

            I love this comment thread. People advocating for the general public being responsible for this. Oh yes please have people randomly disappear from society buried uphill from water supplies. Screw thousands of years of civilization dealing with this problem.

        • jarfil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          19
          ·
          1 year ago

          Here in Spain, you “are legally allowed to use a pinewood casket or just a shroud”… at the same time as “only a funeral home is allowed to perform a cremation or burial”… and they all refuse to do businesses with you unless you also pay for a much pricier casket and some extra services.

          Nice tiny loophole, ain’t it?

    • SeedyOne@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You’re seeing that in-between moment when a wildly ignorant comment is upvoted to the top quickly but comes down slowly. It’s still hot, but the OP has been downvotes far below most corrective comments.

      • 🖖USS-Ethernet@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        17
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        As with any service, everything can be “reasonably” priced. Things that people need every day have become predatory or straight price gouging. Funeral homes are one of those. If people want to have their naked bodies burned or put into the ground, they should be able to.