(22 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: PART MUST CREDIT MUSKOGEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado Springs, Colorado – 22 August 2025
1. Various exteriors of the courthouse
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather DeWolf, Return to Nature customer:
“Um, 20 years for what he’s done for all of the families that crossed the threshold of Return to Nature is the equivalent of six days per deceased body. All of these victims are worth so much more than six days. My son’s dignity was worth so much more than six days.”
3. Tight shot of DeWolf’s T-shirt honoring her son
++COVERERED++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather DeWolf, Return to Nature customer:
“I would be okay with one year for every body that’s been identified, which does not include my son. That would be sufficient for me.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Penrose, Colorado – 6 October 2023
5. Various of the exterior of the Return to Nature funeral home
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado Springs, Colorado – 22 August 2025
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Naranjo, victim’s granddaughter:
“I feel heard. I feel all 1,178 victims were heard today. They were represented on a bigger scale than just the paperwork being pushed under the rug for 20 years.”
7. Various of T-shirt honoring Naranjo’s grandmother
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Naranjo, victim’s granddaughter:
“This is actually directed towards Jon. You desecrated our loved ones as you come to court with an easy way out. But no amount of time in prison will ever make up for what you did. But the thought of you having a life after this is beyond repair. You hid away our most precious treasure that no amount of money could ever pay for. You don’t deserve to ever say hello or goodbye. I hope you’re rotting inside. From the chemicals you used, from the gasses from our loved ones’ bodies. I hope you can’t breathe at night. I hope every day for the rest of your life, you are haunted by each body that you so maliciously, disrespected. I hope you struggle in life. As I know, I will forever be triggered by your lies.
MUSKOGEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE – MUST CREDIT
Muskogee County, Oklahoma – 8 November 2023
9. Mugshot of Jon Hallford, Return to Nature owner
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado Springs, Colorado – 22 August 2025
10. Return to Nature customer Crystina Page hugging outside the courthouse
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Penrose, Colorado – 6 October 2023
++STILLS++
11. Various photos of the investigators outside of the Return to Nature funeral home
Photo IDs:
23279668418474
23279683000729
23279667419593
24127632587244
23279680058114
STORYLINE:
A judge on Friday rejected a plea agreement for a Colorado funeral home owner who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses, after family members described the pain and shame they’ve carried since learning their loved ones’ bodies were left to rot.
The rare decision to reject the plea agreement that called for a 20-year prison sentence followed anguished testimony from family members seeking a more severe punishment.
For four years, Jon Hallford and his wife, Carie, ran a fraudulent scheme from their Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs while maintaining a lavish lifestyle. They took money from customers for cremations, only to stash the bodies and give the families dry concrete resembling ashes.
Colorado has struggled to effectively oversee funeral homes and, for many years, had some of the weakest regulations in the nation. It’s had a slew of abuse cases, including an estimated 20 decomposing corpses discovered this week at a funeral home in Pueblo.
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