Mother says son who died 4 years ago has been identified in Penrose funeral home investigation

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - A mother is heartbroken after investigators revealed to her that for four years, the ashes within her son's urn were not actually his.

Crystina Page was told on the evening of October 24 that her son David, who died in September 2019, had actually been one of the nearly 200 bodies that were improperly stored within the Return to Nature Funeral home.

Investigators told Page the El Paso County Coroner's office identified her son through his fingerprints.

David Page was 20-years-old when he died unexpectedly in September 2019. Crystina describes her oldest son as a highly-intelligent person who cared about how the people in his life were treated.

She explained he had a profound love for the outdoors, including a love for reptiles in particular, fishing, and had a dream to raise wolves with her on a plot of land they had gotten in the San Luis Valley.

Now she grapples with the reality that she carried an urn full of lies, for four years.

"The ashes that his brother and sister, and best friend have cuddled with, and yelled to, and cried with and you know, laughed at and used in their grieving process... to know, that whatever it is [that was in that urn] that they've been using to carry around as they're healing through this, is somebody's dog, or a bag of drywall dust or something? Is just, it's unforgivable," explained Page.

Page says she was beside herself after learning the news and wants to know that those who are responsible will be held accountable.

"It's appalling to me, that there's I mean, there's at least 189 not [only] individuals affected by this, but families," explained Page. "Whether our loved ones were killed by homicide or died peacefully, or in their sleep, or were taken by some illness or disease, every single one of them should be laid to rest."

Page now joins other families finding out that very same news that she got this week. She created a Facebook group to offer support to those same families moving forward, along with concerned members of the public.

"I know that a lot of the families, you know, for me, the morbidity of this and the grief and the loss are like in my face every day," said Page.

She adds that she is looking forward to coming back to Colorado to cremate her son, just as many other families are planning to do, as they slowly begin reuniting with their loved ones.

The FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are still actively investigating the case, but no arrests have been made so far.