Activity increases Monday at scene of Penrose funeral home investigation
FREMONT COUNTY, COLO. (KRDO) -- Monday was the busiest day yet at the site of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, as the investigation into the discovery of 115 improperly stored bodies entered its sixth day.
During the morning, more personnel, vehicles, and equipment arrived; several tents and similar structures were erected and a multicolored privacy fence was installed at the rear of the building, which could be where processing and removal of bodies will begin; several hoses from fire hydrants and trucks are also hooked up to the scene.
To create more space for the busier investigative scene, the boundaries were expanded and bordered by a black privacy fence -- possibly to discourage the steady stream of onlookers around the area.
Military personnel are also assisting at the scene, butit's unclear whether the soldiers involved are from Fort Carson, the Colorado National Guard, or another installation.
Authorities did not provide any comment or new details Monday, but on Friday the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and the FBI announced they have set up a questionnaire for families to fill out to help with the investigative process. It includes questions about physical details and other identifying information about the deceased, as well as contact information and other questions.
That questionnaire can be found here: https://forms.fbi.gov/seeking-victim-information-in-return-to-nature-funeral-home-investigation.
Joyce Pavetti has lived across the street from the funeral home for 13 years; on Monday, she and her husband surveyed the scene ans asked questions to authorities.
"A couple of months ago, they (funeral home owners) brought the hearse in," she said. "My thoughts now, are did they come in the middle of the night and bring the bodies in so that no one would see them? Because we never saw any activity during the day."
A similar story was shared by Harmony Stettler, a Florence resident who formerly worked at the Penrose post office next door to the funeral home.
"A minivan and a car started showing up on the back side of it," she recalled. "For the first couple of months I was here, It was completely abandoned, nobody was ever in there, and I never saw a person coming in and out of there."
Neighbors said that the building used to be a Department of Motor Vehicles office and a real estate office.
"I hope they tear it down once this is all over," Pavetti said.
This continues to be a developing story; follow the networks of KRDO for further updates.
