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
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      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.

      • EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
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        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
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          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
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      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
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        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.