The Brief
State inspectors found 20 decomposing bodies stashed in a funeral home in Pueblo, Colorado.
Brian Cotter, the owner of the funeral home, told officials some of the bodies found were waiting to be cremated.
Cotter has not been arrested, and no charges have been filed in the case.
Twenty decomposing bodies were found by Colorado state inspectors behind a hidden door in a funeral home owned by a county coroner.
The coroner told authorities he might have given fake ashes to the next of kin who requested cremations, the Associated Press reported.
Colorado funeral home bodies discovered
Dig deeper:
State inspectors discovered the bodies in a room behind a door hidden by a cardboard display while an inspection was being performed at the Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, Colorado.
Citing a document from state regulators, the Associated Press reported that inspectors found a “strong odor of decomposition” after arriving at the mortuary. Brian Cotter, the owner and Pueblo County coroner, asked the inspectors not to go into the room.
RELATED: Colorado funeral home owner, wife arrested as 189 decaying bodies uncovered
According to the AP, the estimate of 20 bodies in the room came from funeral home staff. The corpses were not immediately removed, and authorities told the AP that they did not yet have an exact number.
The AP noted that Cotter told inspectors that some of the bodies had been waiting for cremation for 15 years, according to the document from state regulators that explained why the state suspended the mortuary’s registration.
Cotter has not been arrested, and Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais told the AP no charges have been filed as the investigation continues.
According to the AP, Cotter and his brother, Chris, bought Davis Mortuary in 1989, per the company’s website. The site states that the brothers brought with them an “old school” way of operating that they learned from their father, who owned and operated funeral homes in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska.
Have there been similar incidents like this in Colorado?
The other side:
The recent discovery of the decomposed bodies at the Colorado funeral home follows similar incidents reported.
In 2022, owners of a funeral home in Grand Junction, Colorado were convicted of selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes.
The AP noted in another case, that a woman’s body was found in 2024 in the back of a hearse where a Denver funeral home had left it for over a year. About 30 sets of cremated remains were discovered hidden throughout that funeral director’s home.
In 2024, Colorado legislators approved changes intended to strengthen oversight, bringing the state in line with most other states. One requires regulators to routinely inspect funeral homes and gives them more enforcement power. The AP reported that another implements licensing for funeral directors and other workers in the industry.