State investigators have launched a criminal investigation after several bodies were found in various stages of decomposition inside the private mortuary owned by the Pueblo County coroner.
Brian Cotter told state inspectors that some of the bodies found inside Davis Mortuary in Pueblo have been awaiting cremation for about 15 years and that he may have given fake cremated remains to the next of kin, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said Thursday.
The license for the funeral home has been suspended by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agency after inspectors noticed a “strong odor” during a visit Aug. 20, records show.
Behind a door, hidden by a cardboard display, inspectors found several bodies, the report said. Cotter had asked inspectors not to go inside.
From the doorway, inspectors estimated about 20 bodies were inside the room, Sam Delp, director of DORA’s Division of Professions and Occupations said.
“In order to really assess how many were in the room, they would have had to have started moving them around, which is not what we wanted them to be doing,” Delp said.
The Pueblo Police Department asked CBI to lead the criminal investigation because of the agency’s experience on the Return to Nature funeral home case in 2023, where owners stored 190 decaying bodies and sent grieving families fake ashes.
“This is a profound violation of trust and heartbreaking betrayal of the families who entrusted their loved ones to this funeral home,” Armando Saldate, CBI director, said during a news conference Thursday. “I want to express my deepest and most sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased whose remains have been so terribly disrespected. We know you are grieving and this news only compounds your pain.”
On Thursday, CBI investigators, some who also investigated Return to Nature funeral home, were at Davis Mortuary executing a search warrant to collect evidence, Saldate said. Hazmat operators with the Colorado State Patrol were also helping.
“We are at the very beginning of a thorough, methodical investigation. Our top priorities are to respectfully and humanely process the scene, identify all the deceased and notify their families and loved ones,” Saldate said. “This will take some time. Unfortunately, the good news, as I said, is we have some experience in this.”
The Return to Nature case put Colorado’s lax funeral home regulations under the spotlight. Last year, Gov. Jared Polis signed two bills into law that overhauled state oversight of funeral homes.
The Aug. 20 inspection was the first inspection at the facility mandated by one of the two bills, House Bill 1335.
“We’re grateful for the Colorado General Assembly for passing the legislation that allowed us to complete this inspection and detect this issue,” Delp said. “While this discovery is tragic, it shows that the new legislative effort is working.”
Cotter, who has served as Pueblo County’s coroner since 2014, could not immediately be reached Thursday. Records show that Davis Mortuary received a license to operate as a funeral home in the state in January 2010.
No charges have been filed, 10th Judicial District Attorney Kala Beauvais said.
Anyone who used the funeral home’s services can call CBI at 719-257-3359 or cbitips@state.co.us for more information.