Jon and Carie Hallford to face charges of theft, forgery, money laundering and approximately 190 counts of abuse of a corpse

Relatives who knew or feared that their loved ones were among the 190 abandoned bodies found decomposing in a Colorado funeral home watched in person for the first time Tuesday as the owners of the business appeared before a judge.

Jon and Carie Hallford own Return to Nature Funeral Home, which has a facility in Penrose where investigators in early October discovered dozens of stacked bodies, some that had death dates as far back as 2019, according to a federal affidavit. The pair stand accused of abusing corpses, stealing, laundering money and forging documents.

The arrest of Carrie and Jon Hallford in Oklahoma follows shocking news to the loved ones of about 190 dead people

Over the years, the families of about 190 dead people whose remains were entrusted to a Colorado funeral home run by Carrie and Jon Hallford were led to believe that their loved ones’ remains had been cremated or buried.

They even received what were supposed to be ashes of their late family members, comforting keepsakes meant to help the grieving honor and remember their dead.

The decaying corpses were discovered after reports of ‘abhorrent smells’ inside company’s rundown building last month

The owner of a Colorado funeral home and his wife were arrested on Wednesday after the decaying remains of at least 189 people were recently found at his facility.

Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested in Wagoner, Oklahoma, on suspicion of four felonies – abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery – the district attorney, Michael Allen, said in a news release after at least some of the aggrieved families were told.