“A conviction by Christmas”: Signs outside Return to Nature funeral home call for action as patience wanes
PENROSE, Colo. (KRDO) - Community members are expressing frustration amidst the ongoing investigation into the Return to Nature funeral home, placing signs outside the Penrose facility and demanding charges be brought against Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the funeral home.
On October 4th, nearly 200 bodies were found to be improperly stored within the Return to Nature Funeral Home's Penrose location.
Now over a month later, community members in Penrose and families whose loved ones were found within the walls of the defunct funeral home are expressing their frustration with the lack of details coming from investigators.
One person tells KRDO they believe the signs appeared outside of the funeral home sometime over the weekend of November 4 and 5. They can be seen taped to the fencing surrounding the property.
They alternate between hot pink and white paper and are covered in messages like, "WANTED 'Hallfords', Crimes Against Humanity.", "Where are the Hallfords? Arrest them Now.", "Throw Hallford in Prison.", and "Demolish Funeral Home, Arrest Hallfords."
Similar messages were written on the backs of those same posters.
The signs reflect the frustration that residents are feeling as at this point, there has been no mention of criminal charges or many other details about the couple, Jon and Carie Hallford, who own the Return to Nature Funeral Home.
On October 6, when local, state, and federal law enforcement held a press conference giving insight into the horrors they discovered within the building, they were curt in their explanation that they had been "in contact" with the owners and that they were cooperating "so far".
Upon a request for new information or a timeline from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on Monday, November 6, a spokesperson responded in part:
"...this is a complex investigation requiring extensive work by those assigned to this case. There is no timeline for completion at this time. Updates and information will be shared as soon as it's available."
Family members like Samantha Naranjo, and Susan Tardiff, whose mother Dorothy passed on October 11, 2022, were notified on November 2 that her remains were one of the nearly 200 that were found within the funeral home.
Now they're joining the calls from community members who hung those posters in expressing their anger over the situation.
"We were hurt. We were frustrated. Now we're angry. We want justice. Not just for us, but every single one of those victims. Every one of them. Their family deserves to be at peace. Even like you said, the community deserves justice." Naranjo and Tardiff said together.
"I really do feel like people read what they saw in life overall. And I really hope that they get the same level of respect, or rather disrespect, as they have given us, and they will eventually get what they deserve," added Naranjo.
