Colorado Funeral Home Scandal: What Return to Nature Means for Families Today

When Colorado families handed their loved ones to Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, they trusted that the most basic obligation — respectful care of a body — would be honored. Instead, investigators discovered 190 improperly stored, decomposing bodies piled in the facility. The owners were accused of spending prepaid cremation funds on luxury vehicles and cryptocurrency while families waited months for ashes that were never real.

The Return to Nature case wasn't an isolated failure. In Pueblo County, the elected Coroner became implicated in the Davis Mortuary scandal, with investigators alleging the mishandling of two dozen bodies. Two separate scandals. Two Colorado counties. The same question left hanging: how did this happen, and is it fixed?

How Colorado's Deregulation Created the Conditions

Most people assume funeral directors are licensed professionals subject to state oversight. In Colorado, that assumption was wrong for decades. After the State Board of Mortuary Science was eliminated in 1983, Colorado operated for over forty years without requiring formal licensure for funeral directors, embalmers, or cremationists. Anyone could open a funeral home.

That regulatory vacuum is what enabled Return to Nature. Without mandatory licensing, criminal background checks, or routine inspections, operators could take prepaid funds and run operations with no professional accountability.

The Davis Mortuary scandal added another layer — when the person responsible for investigating suspicious deaths is also implicated in body mishandling, the failure is systemic, not just individual.

What SB 24-173 Changed — and What It Didn't

The Colorado legislature passed Senate Bill 24-173 in 2024, mandating licensure for mortuary science occupations. The bill created the framework for professional licensing of funeral directors, embalmers, cremationists, and natural reductionists through the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).

The catch: full compliance and enforcement don't take effect until 2027.

This means Colorado families are currently in a dangerous transitional period. The law exists on paper, but not every operator in the state is yet required to hold a license. DORA can register funeral establishments and enforce title protection, but the complete licensing apparatus is still being built. If you're arranging a funeral today, you cannot assume the person across the table is a licensed professional.

What Families Can Do Right Now

The absence of full enforcement doesn't leave you without recourse. You have tools.

Verify registration with DORA. The DORA Office of Funeral and Mortuary Science Services maintains a list of registered funeral establishments and crematories. An unregistered facility is an immediate red flag. Verification takes five minutes online.

Demand the General Price List before discussing anything. The FTC Funeral Rule requires every funeral provider to give you an itemized General Price List (GPL) as soon as you begin arrangements, whether in person or by phone. If they refuse or delay, walk out. This federal protection applies regardless of whether Colorado's licensing transition is complete.

Ask about prepaid fund handling. Under Colorado law, preneed contract sellers must meet net worth and surety bond requirements, and funds are regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance. Before signing any prepaid contract, ask which institution holds the funds, whether the account is separate from operating expenses, and whether you can transfer the contract if you move. Under C.R.S. § 10-15-105, you have the right to transfer — though the seller can retain up to 15% of the purchase price as a cancellation fee.

Verify the facility handles its own cremations. Return to Nature took money for cremations it either didn't perform or performed improperly. Before you hand over a loved one, ask whether the facility operates its own crematory on-site, or whether it contracts the cremation to a third party. If it subcontracts, ask for the name and registration of the contracting crematory. You're entitled to that information.

Get the authorization in writing before anything happens. Cremation is irreversible. Colorado law requires signed cremation authorization before a crematory proceeds. Ensure you receive a copy of the signed authorization and that you know the expected timeline for return of remains.

The Paper Trail That Protects You

One of the most practical lessons from the Return to Nature case is documentation. Families who had written contracts, itemized price lists, and signed authorizations had a far clearer legal record when disputes arose. Families operating on verbal agreements had almost nothing.

Keep copies of:

• The signed cremation or burial authorization
• The General Price List and any itemized statement of selected services
• The preneed contract, including the name of the trust institution
• Any receipts for payments made
• The name and registration number of the funeral establishment or crematory

If remains are delayed beyond the stated timeline with no explanation, contact DORA's complaint portal immediately. DORA can investigate and, in cases of active harm, refer matters to the Attorney General.

The Broader Picture

The Return to Nature and Davis Mortuary scandals exposed what happens when an industry operates without oversight for forty years. SB 24-173 is a genuine step forward, but it won't be fully in force until 2027, and it doesn't retroactively fix trust.

The families harmed in Penrose and Pueblo County deserved better. So does yours. The best protection right now is treating every funeral arrangement as a financial and legal transaction — demanding documentation, verifying registration, and knowing your rights before you're in the middle of a crisis.

The Colorado Funeral Laws & Consumer Rights Guide walks through the exact verification steps, FTC rights, and DORA complaint process in one place, so you're not piecing together answers from a dozen government websites when time is short.

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