PENROSE • A chapter in the saga of the Return to Nature Funeral Home case is closing as demolition of the building that housed nearly 200 decomposing bodies began Tuesday morning.
Impacted loved ones, law enforcement, Fremont County and El Paso County Coroner’s Office personnel and officials with the Environmental Protection Agency came together on the Penrose property just off Colorado 115 to grieve and seek closure. The gathering came just two days after the funeral home owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, returned to jail, this time facing federal fraud charges stemming from the gruesome discovery last October.
Crowds consisting of impacted loved ones, law enforcement and coroner’s office officials gathered at the #returntonature funeral home in Penrose ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled demolition. @csgazette pic.twitter.com/JHfLRCdlHb
— Abbey Soukup (@AbbeySoukup2) April 16, 2024
“The beginning of the demolition today hopefully marks a day of closure and the continued healing for all the victims associated with this horrific event,” Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said.
Just before 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, EPA officials signaled the operator of a CAT excavator to begin the demolition process. Those in attendance stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the metal barricades surrounding the property, watching as machinery made first contact with the building that held the remains of 189 people who were meant to be put to rest.
According to EPA officials, demolition crews will begin with removing the roof at #returntonature Penrose, Tuesday. Officials say they hope to have the ground leveled on the property in the, “next few days.” @csgazette pic.twitter.com/R6XGsY3DQR
— Abbey Soukup (@AbbeySoukup2) April 16, 2024
“You want to say the word relieving, but is it really? It’s a bittersweet moment,” said Samantha Naranjo, who is pro-demolition of the Penrose facility.
“I want it (the demolition) to be a step moving further from this place of horror, and I feel it's a step in the right direction,” Naranjo said.
Angelika Steadman reaches over to comfort Samantha Naranjo during a ceremony before the start of demolition of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose on Tuesday, March 15, 2024. Naranjo’s grandmother, Dorothy Tardiff, were among the bodies found at the funeral home and the remains of Steadman’s daughter, Chanelle Chaloux, has yet to be found. Nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found at the funeral home last fall, resulting in the arrest of owners Jon and Carie Hallford.
The remains of Naranjo’s grandmother, Dorothy Tardiff, were discovered inside the Penrose facility in October.
“This is my first time here. It’s weird seeing this building," Naranjo said. "My grandmother should have never been in this building to begin with so, there’s a lot of feelings on it.”
According to EPA spokesperson Katherine Jenkins, crews are working to have the building completely taken down in the “next few days,” as breaking down and hauling the materials to the Otero County landfill is anticipated to be the longest aspect of the process.
“So what they're going to do (Tuesday) is peel away the roof and see what the insulation is underneath. Depending on the type of insulation, more water may be needed for dust suppression,” Jenkins said.
“They would like to get the building done in the next few days, and then we'll start loading — that’s the part that takes the longest.”
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, a Gazette photographer on the scene reported half of the Penrose building to be demolished.
Keri Pollakoff and her husband, Mike Miller, hug their dog, Maus, before the start of demolition of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose on Tuesday, March 15, 2024. The location of the body of Pollakoff’s father is still unknown, but he was taken to the Return to Nature Funeral Home. Nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found at the funeral home last Fall, resulting in the arrest of owners Jon and Carie Hallford. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
In addressing those in attendance, Keller confirmed 17 sets of remains discovered inside the Penrose facility have not yet been identified.
Keller said the Coroner’s Office will continue to work with DNA in pursuit of identifying the remaining individuals and bringing closure to impacted families.
Keri Wirick-Pollakoff, who used Return to Nature’s services in August 2022 following the death of her father, Ernest "Skip" Wirick, is among those hoping the Coroner Office’s work with DNA will bring her family closure.
She said her father has not yet been identified by the Coroner’s Office.
“Not knowing is the hardest thing; I can’t begin to describe the feeling,” Wirick-Pollakoff said.
“I figured the 17 they have left, no one has contacted us for DNA and I took that as he probably isn’t one of them, but they (Fremont County) told me they haven’t reached out to anyone yet, so there’s hope, and more waiting,” Wirick-Pollakoff said.
“Having hope helps.”
The Hallford returned to jail Sunday, facing 16 additional federal felony charges along with the 260 criminal charges — including “improper storage” of 189 bodies, abuse of a corpse, money laundering, forgery and theft — in a lengthy, layered legal process that’s already underway in El Paso County.
Flowers rest against a fence in a tent for a ceremony before the start of demolition of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose on Tuesday, March 15, 2024. The flowers were left by a relative of a person whose remains were found at the funeral home. Nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found at the funeral home last Fall, resulting in the arrest of owners Jon and Carie Hallford. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
According to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the Hallfords were released into FBI custody Monday morning and promptly whisked to Denver to face multi-count federal charges that broadly characterized their crimes as a “scheme to defraud customers.”
Judge Scott Varholak granted the U.S. Assistant Attorney Tim Neff's request for a three-day continuance of the arraignment hearing, telling the judge he planned to argue the Hallfords should remain in custody while they await trial, based on their track record.
"There are grounds to believe they present a flight risk," Neff said.
The Hallfords will be back in federal court Monday.
The Hallfords are scheduled to appear in court in Colorado Springs for an arraignment hearing on June 6. A jury trial is tentatively set for October.
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