Mike Dudley can usually pick up on someone’s anxiety about dealing with Colorado’s funeral home industry the first time they sit down to talk.

It starts with pointed questions as he meets with families in the conference room at Rundus Funeral Home & Crematory in Broomfield, where Dudley is the general manager and funeral director. How is their loved one’s body going to be handled? Who will be caring for them? When, where and how will they be cremated or put in a casket?

Sometimes it comes out of the blue, like when a man called Dudley three years after Rundus cremated his loved one because he couldn’t stop thinking about whether or not he actually had the correct cremains.

“His mind just got wondering and he needed reassurance,” Dudley said. “Like, ‘How do I know this is in fact my person in the urn?’”

Whether it’s pointed questions from prospective clients or phone calls years after the fact, recent scandals in the state’s funeral industry have shaken Coloradans’ trust in the professionals who care for their deceased loved ones, funeral directors and industry experts told The Denver Post.

While Colorado lawmakers have made significant strides in adding state regulations to prevent future scandals, rehabilitating the funeral industry’s reputation is a more complicated task.

“The trust that’s been broken here, it’s going to take a long while for us to restore it,” said Matt Whaley, president of the Colorado Funeral Directors Association.

The effect of Colorado’s notoriously lax funeral home regulations burst into public view in 2018, when an FBI raid on Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors in Montrose found that mother-daughter team Megan Hess and Shirley Koch stole and sold hundreds of bodies around the world to turn a profit.

Hess is now serving a 20-year prison sentence and Koch is serving a 15-year sentence.

Coloradans are still seeing the fallout of more recent scandals, like the active investigation into Davis Mortuary owner (and former Pueblo County coroner) Brian Cotter, who operated the mortuary where state inspectors found 24 decomposing bodies in a hidden room in August.

Dudley is often at a loss for words when he thinks about the scandals, like what happened at the Return to Nature funeral home in Penrose, where owners Jon and Carie Hallford allowed 191 bodies, stacked on top of each other, to decompose for over four years while giving families fake cremains.

The Hallfords both face decades-long prison sentences after pleading guilty in their state criminal cases.

“Even when we’re transferring (the deceased) from a cot to a dressing table, we’re making sure their head doesn’t bang. We’re treating them as if they’re still alive, with care and respect. That you could let those people languish for years… how could you do that?” Dudley said. “How could you sit in front of a family and hand them an urn knowing full well it’s Quikrete?”

So when the man called him out of the blue asking about his loved one’s cremains, Dudley explained that every person who is cremated gets a metal disk with a unique set of numbers that stays with them through the whole process and is zip-tied to the bag of cremains that are returned to families.

“I said, ‘Tell me that number. Don’t tell me the name of your person. I’ll go back to our cremation log and tell you the name associated with the number,’” Dudley said. “I came back, said I have that number associated with this person, and he just said, ‘Oh, thank God.’”

Scandals had statewide, local ripple effects

Cases of industry workers mishandling bodies in Montrose, Penrose, Denver and Pueblo have had a far-reaching effect on Colorado’s funeral home industry, said Kim Bridges, who owns the parent company that oversees three metro Denver funeral homes, including Rundus.

“When these things started happening, it was awful for the industry,” she said. “It makes everyone look at the industry with skepticism and that’s a shame because you need to be able to trust the people you entrust your loved one to.”

Bridges Funeral Services, which Bridges owns with her husband, also oversees funeral and mortuary facilities in New Mexico, Tennessee and Florida.

The uptick in funeral directors and staff encountering families who are anxious about cremating or burying their loved ones is not limited to Rundus, said Whaley, who has worked in the funeral home industry for 38 years and is now market director at Dignity Memorial.

More people are also asking to witness cremations to make sure they know exactly what is happening to their loved one, he said.

When Dudley encounters people with questions or doubts about the funeral and cremation process, he tries to be as transparent as possible, answering their questions with as much detail as they want and offering tours of the facility.

For most, the offer is enough to calm their fears, Dudley said. But about a third of those want to see everything, from the plain-but-clean room lined with cabinets and counters where the deceased are prepared for services, to the massive, gray crematory that looks similar to a metal shipping container.

Whaley, Dudley and Bridges all shared the same sentiment: Families asking more questions about the funeral process is a good thing and should be welcomed.

“If someone doesn’t want to give a consumer all the information they’re asking for, shame on them,” Bridges said. “The consumer should go somewhere else and ask for a tour of the place.”

That kind of simple and up-front communication is the right way to rebuild trust with the community after a crisis, said Andy Boian, founder and CEO of the Colorado- and California-based public relations firm Dovetail Solutions.

Boian and other public relations experts who spoke to The Denver Post commented on the scandals hypothetically, as neither have worked directly with funeral homes on this issue.

Good communication includes walking people through the process, making sure they understand what’s happening and circling back regularly, he said.

“At the end of the day, that would ratify and settle a lot of people’s concerns,” Boian said.

That transparency now extends into Colorado’s industry regulations after state legislators, motivated by recent scandals, passed new laws to prevent the same kind of situation from happening at funeral homes or mortuaries ever again.

Passed in 2024, the three new laws require funeral directors and other industry professionals to obtain licenses; for state regulators to perform routine inspections at facilities; and for businesses to obtain consent and share more information about body donation.

Colorado officials say the new regulations are already making a difference — for example, bodies discovered in a hidden room at Davis Mortuary in Pueblo were found by state inspectors during their first-ever visit to the facility — though that impact isn’t necessarily felt by the people doing the work every day.

Bridges jokes that her staff are more nervous about a drop-by visit from her than from state inspectors.

“We welcome all oversight because we conduct ourselves in such a way that it’s not an issue,” she said. “If you have to run around and get things right before someone comes in, you’re doing something wrong.”

That ethos, Boian said, also represents another avenue for funeral homes to redeem themselves in the eyes of the community.

“There’s also an opportunity here as well, and that is to be the best and most proficient at your craft,” he said.

Overcoming scandal, moving forward

Crisis management experts told The Denver Post that while the public is usually willing to forgive and forget scandals if those involved do a good job communicating, the fraught nature of dealing with death makes this more complicated.

“It’s really tricky when it’s something sensitive like this,” said Kara Schmiemann, senior director of crisis communications at Red Banyan, a national crisis PR firm with offices in Denver. “When it has to do with our loved ones, these are the most difficult industries when they face a crisis because there’s a lot of emotion packed in there.”

And while the scandals at a handful of Colorado funeral homes may have sown skepticism among the general public, they had the opposite effect on Arapahoe Community College student Luke Olson.

Olson, who studies in the mortuary science program, was pursuing a mechanical engineering degree before he switched career paths. He said he was drawn to the hospitality of the field and the family connection — his grandfather was a mortician for a tiny town of 90 people.

“Going into the practice is emboldening to me and a new generation of death care practitioners who want to uphold the law and repair the damage that’s been done to Colorado’s reputation in the past,” Olson said.

Contrary to the stereotype about funeral home owners trying to profit off of the bereaved, people who get into the profession are not doing it for the money, Olson said, describing the wages as “very middle class.” (Funeral directors earn $51,607 per year on average, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.)

Two statues from a foundry in Northern Colorado have completed a tour across the country that lasted over a week and are now installed in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

The bronze bison were created by paleoartist Gary Staab at the Art Casting Foundry in Loveland and made their first stop on their road trip at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on March 11. Staab, a paleoartist for over 30 years, says he created the massive statues over 14 months.

“The American Bison is a fascinating project because it has an incredible story, and it’s a story that is part of America’s history. To be included in it is a really humbling experience,” Staab said in a video announcing the bronze bison road trip.

Bison, America’s national mammal and the largest mammal in Colorado, once lived nearly statewide, Colorado Parks and Wildlife says. The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center says the animals have played an integral role in the state’s history and ecology and served as a staple food source for people living in the region as far back as the Paleo-Indian period. They’re seen as spiritually and culturally vital to many Native American Tribes of the Western Great Plains, they added.

Plains bison were nearly driven to extinction in the late 1800s, but collaboration among conservationists, organizations, and Native American communities has helped protect and conserve the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the species is no longer threatened with extinction, and estimates there are currently around 445,500 Plains Bison in conservation and commercial herds.

CPW said bull bison can grow to approximately six feet tall, 10 feet long, and can weigh over a ton.

Staab says each of his bison statues weighs 2,500 pounds, and the tallest of the pair stands at nine and a half feet tall.

After a presentation by NMNH Director Kirk Johnson and postdoctoral fellow Sarah Johnson, representatives of the Sicangu and Oglala Lakota saw the statues off on their journey. Chief Calvin Standing Bear spoke a prayer over the bronze bison. Chasing Hawk Standing Bear also sang a buffalo prayer song, and Jeff Iron Cloud burned sage next to the statues.

The bronzes made stops at the University of Nebraska, the University of Iowa and the Field Museum in Chicago on their long journey to Washington, D.C.

They finished the nearly 1,800-mile trip on March 19 and were installed in their permanent home in front of the museum that night. Now they stand on either side of the stairs leading to the museum’s National Mall entrance to greet visitors.

An exhibit at the museum detailing the bison’s resilience titled “Bison: Standing Strong” is scheduled to open on May 7. The “Imagining Bison Display Cases,” which will explore artistic and scientific depictions of Bison through books, maps, and other materials, is set to open on May 21.

• The Bureau of Reclamation is working on a new set of drought guidelines for the Colorado River, but still lacks a consensus for one approach.
• Tribes are urging the Bureau of Reclamation to incorporate the Northern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement into the new river plan.
• The Hualapai and Kaibab Paiute tribes have expressed concerns that the draft plan fails to fully protect their water rights and resources.

With several key Colorado River management agreements set to expire this year — including the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines for drought management — tribes have submitted comments on the draft environmental impact statement for a replacement plan.

The draft EIS aims to guide adoption of more reliable, predictable rules, but doing so is challenging due to low reservoir levels, variable water supply and a drier future, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the reservoirs on the Colorado.

Federal law requires the Secretary of Interior to coordinate reservoir operations. New operational guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead will begin in 2027.

“We are grateful for the ongoing tribal leadership an collaboration with us on Colorado River matters and the Post-2026 process,” said Carly Jerla, senior water resources program manager with the Bureau’s Lower Colorado River Basin, during a presentation on the new guidelines. “We’ve been engaging with tribes in several ways, through government-to-government consultation…since the beginning of the EIS process.”

Jerla said the EIS process began with a notice of intent in June 2023, followed by a public scoping period and development of alternatives. The public comment period closed in early March, and feedback will be considered to help identify a preferred alternative.

“The current guidelines have not been sufficient to protect water supplies, hyrdopower and infrastructure,” said Jerla. “Low reservoir levels have persisted due to long-term drought and increasing aridity.”

Tribal settlement: In push for landmark Arizona water deal, tribal leaders huddle with feds

Navajo officials want to link settlement and river plan

Several tribes, including the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe, submitted comments for consideration. Along with the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, they recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, urging support for the Northern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement. Reclamation support for the settlement was emphasized in comments submitted regarding the draft EIS from both Hopi and Navajo.

“It is critical for the Navajo Nation to secure and develop its water rights.,” Navajo officials said in their comments. “The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act is pending in Congress and is stalled due to a lack of consensus among the seven Colorado River Basin states.” The Navajo Nation asked the bureau to acknowledge the settlement in the final Environmental Impact Statement.

The landmark agreement settles claims to water in Arizona for the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, and with $5 billion in planned infrastructure, will deliver clean drinking water to thousands of people who lack reliable supplies.

The Navajo Nation said two key mechanisms in the settlement that address Colorado River operations can be applied across all alternatives in the draft EIS. The first proposal is a water savings pool in Lake Powell that could store up to 321,000 acre-feet over 20 years. It would help offset impacts across all modeled alternatives, support reservoir elevations and rely on some of the most reliable water in the Colorado River system.

The second is a potential program for tribes to lease Upper Basin water to the Lower Basin in Arizona. This would allow water to continue generating hydropower at Lake Powell while temporarily helping address shortages in Arizona as the system adjusts to drier conditions.

“We respectfully urge all stakeholders in the Basin to view (the settlement) not as a complication to Post-2026, but as an opportunity, a chance to take an incremental step forward that benefits tribal communities and the Colorado River system alike,” Lamar Keevama, chairman of the Hopi Tribe, told the Bureau. The settlement, he said, “represents progress that can be achieved now.”

Colorado River Basin: With Utah water deal in place, Navajo Nation urges Congress to pass AZ deal

Kaibab Paiutes seek attention for water supplies

To provide stability and predictability for Basin water users, the Interior Secretary proposes an interim period of about 20 years, while remaining open to a shorter or phased approach as consensus develops on post-2026 operations.

The Bureau of Reclamation will lead the development and implementation of the guidelines under the National Environmental Policy Act, with support from five cooperating agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Western Area Power Administration, and the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Tribes such as the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, located north of the Grand Canyon along the Arizona–Utah border, have asserted aboriginal and federally reserved rights to surface water, including Kanab Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River. Tribal officials suggest that when resources are affected, support should go directly to tribes, and any preferred alternative should include long-term programs, funding, and monitoring to address impacts on tribal economies, resources, and ecosystems.

“Our Tribe is one of the last tribes in Arizona whose water rights have yet to be partially or fully quantified, either through litigation or in settlement, and the flows of Kanab Creek and its tributaries are a critical component of our water supply that is needed to meet the permanent Tribal homeland needs for our People,” wrote the tribe’s chairman Roland Maldonado.

As the EIS continues to develop, the tribe asked that the Bureau of Reclamation:

• Provide additional tribal comment and consultation opportunities regarding the development and adoption of a preferred alternative;
• Continue to engage with the tribe in the development of the agreement;
• Analyze hydropower impacts specific to tribal WAPA contracts, including the associated economic impacts; and
• Incorporate mitigation measures in the Post-2026 guidelines to address impacts to tribal resources.

Seven-state plan: Colorado River plan could wipe Arizona from the map, officials say

Alternatives outline strategies, but most lack tribal input

The Hualapai Reservation is downstream from Lake Powell and upstream from Lake Mead and encompasses approximately 1 million acres in northwestern Arizona. The Colorado River forms the northern boundary of its tribal lands through a 108-mile portion of the Grand Canyon.

“The Reservation is arid and has no significant surface water streams other than the Colorado River. It has very limited groundwater resources, on which the tribe currently depends for all its water needs,” wrote attorneys from the firm of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry for the Hualapai Tribe.

“Water availability is even worse elsewhere on the reservation. There is a small groundwater well on the east side of the reservation that provides water to ranchers and wildlife in that area, but this water is not potable for human consumption.”

The tribe’s attorneys wrote that the draft EIS evaluates five strategies for managing Colorado River shortages after 2026. While it includes extensive information on tribal water rights and potential impacts, they argue the analysis is fundamentally flawed because it does not consider any option that fully protects all federally confirmed tribal water rights, such as those held by the Hualapai, from reduction during shortages.

The alternatives presented in the draft EIS by the Bureau of Reclamation are:

• No action alternative
• Basic Coordination Alternative (formerly the Federal Authorities Alternative)
• Enhanced Coordination Alternative (formerly the Federal Authorities Hybrid Alternative)
• Maximum Operational Flexibility Alternative (formerly the Cooperative Conservation Alternative)
• Supply Driven Alternative
• Continued Current Strategies Comparative Baseline

“What you don’t see is a preferred alternative, as there was no preferred alternative identified in the draft EIS because of a lack of a kind of consensus-based approach to the post-2026 reservoir operations among basin entities,” said Alan Butler, hydrologic engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region.

Butler said the bureau anticipates identifying a preferred alternative after the publication of the draft EIS.

Hualapai attorneys noted that the draft document takes a narrow view by assuming there is no viable option to fully protect tribal water rights during shortages, effectively treating reductions to some congressionally approved or court-recognized rights as unavoidable in dry years.

“But of course, this outcome is not inevitable and the department sets forth no factual basis to support its assumption that this outcome is unavoidable,” wrote the tribe’s representative. “Instead, the DEIS could and should — indeed must — consider a different available alternative for managing shortages, one that would not impose any shortages on tribal water rights that have been confirmed by Congress and/or by final court decrees.”

Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.