{"id":657,"date":"2026-05-21T08:03:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T08:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=657"},"modified":"2026-05-21T08:03:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T08:03:53","slug":"18-bodies-found-in-hidden-room-at-pueblo-mortuary-identified-colorado-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=657","title":{"rendered":"18 bodies found in hidden room at Pueblo mortuary identified, Colorado officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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State investigators now know the names of 18 people whose remains were left to decompose in a hidden back room of a Pueblo mortuary for over a decade, Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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All of the remains identified from Davis Mortuary so far are from people who died between 2010 and 2012, the CBI said in a news release. The remains of six people are still unidentified, and investigators continue to use forensic genetic genealogy \u2014 working with a private lab to match DNA to public databases and find distant relatives \u2014 to try to identify them, a necessity because of the lack of mortuary records, the poor condition of the remains and degraded DNA.<\/p>\n

State inspectors found the room of human remains at Davis Mortuary in August during their first inspection of the facility after state lawmakers strengthened Colorado\u2019s funeral home regulations in the wake of other, similar scandals on the Western Slope, in Penrose and metro Denver.<\/p>\n

The CBI is still investigating \u201cmultiple containers of bones, cremains and probable human tissue representing an unknown number of deceased individuals\u201d that were also found at the mortuary.<\/p>\n

Davis Mortuary was owned and operated by then-coroner Brian Cotter and his brother, Chris Cotter. Brian Cotter stepped down after dozens of state and local officials called for his resignation in the wake of the scandal, but neither man is currently facing criminal charges in the case.<\/p>\n

Pueblo County District Attorney Kala Beauvais has previously said she will not consider charges until the CBI\u2019s investigation is complete, which includes identifying all of the bodies.<\/p>\n

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On Wednesday, CBI officials said the agency has \u201cworked in concert with the 10th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office every step of the way in this complex investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe case information will be presented to the District Attorney\u2019s office for review and filing of charges,\u201d agency officials said.<\/p>\n

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While Brian Cotter initially told state inspectors the 24 bodies were awaiting cremation, he later said some had been in the room for 15 years and said he may have given families fake cremains.<\/p>\n

Other Colorado funeral home owners accused of mishandling human remains in recent years are now serving time in prison, including Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors mother-daughter team Megan Hess and Shirley Koch. The pair pleaded guilty to mail fraud after investigators found they harvested and sold parts from hundreds of bodies without the knowledge or consent of families.<\/p>\n

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Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado officials identified 18 people whose remains were left in a back room of Pueblo’s Davis Mortuary for over a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n18 bodies found in hidden room at Pueblo mortuary identified, Colorado officials say - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=657\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"18 bodies found in hidden room at Pueblo mortuary identified, Colorado officials say - 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