- - 24 bodies, 'multiple' boxes of bones and human tissue removed from Colorado funeral home

Zach Hillstrom and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY NETWORK August 28, 2025 at 12:58 AM

24 bodies, 'multiple' boxes of bones and human tissue removed from Colorado funeral home

PUEBLO, CO — Two dozen decomposing bodies, along with multiple containers of bones and probable human tissue, were removed from a Colorado funeral home after remains were found hidden in a sealed room last week, authorities said Aug. 26.

Davis Mortuary, a privately owned funeral home run by Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter and his brother Chris Cotter, was suspended after state inspectors discovered decomposing bodies in a hidden room on Aug. 20, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The funeral home and mortuary is located in the city of Pueblo, more than 100 miles south of Denver, the state's capital.

In an update on Aug. 26, the CBI said a total of 24 bodies and multiple containers of bones and "probable human tissue representing an unknown number of deceased individuals" were removed from the funeral home. The bodies and containers were then transferred to the El Paso County Coroner's Office for attempted identification.

As part of the criminal probe into Davis Mortuary, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at the homes of Brian and Chris Cotter. Neither of the brothers has been arrested or charged, as the investigation remains ongoing.

The two brothers have not been questioned because they retained legal counsel, according to the CBI. The agency noted that the brothers were not considered a flight risk.

Who is Brian Cotter? More about coroner accused of hiding bodies

"The preliminary processing of the Davis Mortuary building has been completed by investigators, and the building remains locked and secured, with access restricted to law enforcement," the CBI said. "The investigation is ongoing and will continue to determine what charges are appropriate.

Authorities have urged families who may have used the services of Davis Mortuary to fill out a questionnaire to assist with the investigative process. As of 12 p.m. local time on Aug. 26, the CBI said it has received 843 tips, and 336 people have completed the victim information questionnaire.

How the criminal investigation into Davis Mortuary began

The criminal investigation began on Aug. 20 after the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) allegedly found several bodies in various stages of decomposition in a concealed room of Davis Mortuary. Brian Cotter, a three-term Republican county coroner, allegedly told the inspectors that some of the bodies had been in the hidden room as long as 15 years, and that families of decedents may have been given fake cremains.

The CBI said on Aug. 25 that the bodies had been respectfully removed from the mortuary over the weekend. The agency noted that identification of the remains is expected to take months due to the "condition of the remains and the unverified record keeping at Davis Mortuary."

The agency added that investigators will use dental x-rays, fingerprints, and DNA samples to identify the remains.

Despite calls for his resignation from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and nearly every elected official in the city and county, Brian Cotter remained Pueblo County's coroner as of Aug. 26.

More: Recall petition seeks to remove Pueblo coroner from office amid criminal investigation

A summary suspension for Davis Mortuary issued by DORA’s Office of Funeral and Mortuary Science Services on Aug. 21 stated the mortuary “engaged in willfully dishonest conduct and/or committed negligence in the practice of embalming, funeral directing, or providing for final disposition that defrauds or causes injury or is likely to defraud or cause injury.”

“Davis Mortuary failed to embalm, refrigerate, cremate, bury, or entomb human remains within twenty-four hours after taking custody of the remains,” the suspension order stated. “Davis Mortuary took custody of more human remains than the funeral establishment has the capacity to refrigerate and maintained custody of human remains for more than twenty-four hours.”

Latest case involving Colorado funeral homes

For decades, Colorado had some of the weakest funeral home regulations in the United States. The Coloradoan, part of the USA TODAY Network, previously reported that Colorado was the only state without licensing requirements for funeral industry workers.

In 2024, lawmakers in Colorado tightened regulations on the funeral home industry after several investigations into funeral homes across the state revealed that human remains were being mishandled. The legislation mandates the regulation and licensing of mortuary science practitioners, funeral directors, embalmers, cremationists, and natural reductionists.

The Colorado funeral home industry came under scrutiny after authorities discovered improperly stored bodies at a funeral home in Penrose, Colorado, a small town about 34 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, in October 2023. After obtaining a search warrant, the FBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and local law enforcement found that about 190 bodies, which were in various states of decomposition, had been stored in the building.

Prosecutors later accused the funeral home owners, Jon Hallford and Carie Hallford, of defrauding families across the country by "not providing a cremation or burial for the deceased as promised." The Hallfords also allegedly gave families dry concrete instead of ashes, collected more than $130,000 from families for cremations and burials they never performed, and buried the wrong body on at least two occasions, according to prosecutors.

'We're all suffering': Families express grief, anger at mistreatment of loved ones' remains

Earlier in 2023, the operator of another Colorado funeral home and her mother were sentenced to federal prison for illegally selling body parts or entire bodies without the consent of the family of the deceased, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced in January 2023 that Megan Hess was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while her mother, Shirley Koch, received 15 years. Prosecutors said the two had pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting for their involvement in stealing "the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims, and then (selling) those remains to victims purchasing the remains for body broker services."

In 2024, the former owner of a funeral home in suburban Denver was accused of improperly storing cremated remains and keeping a dead woman's body in a hearse for over a year. He later pleaded guilty to one felony count of abuse of a corpse and one misdemeanor count of theft in April 2025 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June.

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY; Justin Reutter, Pueblo Chieftain; Natasha Lovato, Fort Collins Coloradoan

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado authorities remove bodies, boxes of bones from funeral home

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