Colorado
‘It really tore me up’: Funeral home probation leaves southern Colorado woman questioning care of her father’s remains
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Losing a loved one is never easy, and for one Colorado woman, her loss was compounded by recent news of disturbing discoveries in funeral homes eroding her trust.
Renee Crippen’s father, Charles, was a Colorado Springs native who made a career in construction. Crippen said he always kept busy, be it at work, in his garden, painting cars or just generally finding something to tinker with.
“He was a stubborn guy,” she joked, “but he is well-loved, and we miss him tremendously, for sure.”
When he passed on New Year’s Eve, Crippen said she wanted to ensure he was laid to rest properly. But with recent news of discoveries at places like the Return to Nature funeral home and Davis Mortuary, she said she wanted to be thorough in her vetting process.
“I think, probably, previously, I wouldn’t have thought that much, I would have reached out for sure, but I probably wouldn’t have been as concerned,” she said.
Crippen said she used Evergreen Funeral Home, but after they took possession of her father’s remains, she went a while without hearing from them. So, she said she emailed a series of questions, which she said were answered, but she said something felt off.
“Just some inconsistencies that just kind of left me feeling unsettled,” she explained.
At the time, she said she was told by Evergreen that the funeral home was dealing with an influx of bodies coming in after the holidays.
El Paso County officials said they had a contract between county administrators, the coroner’s office and Evergreen. Typically, these contracts involve county officials working with a funeral home to handle the remains of people without family or whose family has no means to pay for burial or cremation services.
But county officials said Evergreen had requested to terminate its contract.
“The County was not notified of any investigation or inspection findings. When we asked Evergreen directly whether they were under investigation, they advised that they were in compliance with all applicable standards,” a county spokesperson said.
In January, the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies said they got an anonymous tip, which led to an inspection. In this, DORA said they found violations of state statutes. In a probation order, they said the funeral home stored more bodies than they had capacity for, kept them in temperatures warmer than what is allowed by the state, and had some inconsistencies in paperwork used to track who had custody of the bodies.
This led to Evergreen being placed on a year-long probation.
“The County was not notified and had no knowledge that Evergreen Funeral Home was operating above capacity,” a county spokesperson said.
For Crippen, this news was hard to hear.
“Seeing it is heartbreaking. It really tore me up,” she said.
She said she ultimately did get her father’s remains back, though, and was able to lay him to rest, but the news of the probation left her wondering what happened between his death and when she got those remains.
“My concern became, was he being taken care of properly and respectfully?” she said.
11 News spoke with the manager of Evergreen, who said his lawyers advised him not to speak with media.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
2026 Colorado Activities Association Boys 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships
- May 8-9, 2026
- Thornton, CO
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
A year after winning its first- ever state title, Monarch High School stayed on top at the Colorado Activities Association Boys 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships.
Monarch successfully defended its title, earning 355.5 points to outlast runner-up JK Mullen, which came in with 344 points. Glenwood Springs was third at 340.5.
“It was nerve-wracking,” senior Tobin Howe said to the CHSAA site. “We were about halfway through the meet and going into finals we knew if we kept our seed places, we had enough points to win. Mullen was doing really well and I was a bit nervous. I was thinking it might come down to the last event. It almost did, but we pulled through.”
Howe, a Washington University commit, was the leading point-getter for Monarch, claiming individual titles in the 200 IM (personal best 1:51.67) and the 100 breast (55.32).
The other individual standout was Cheyenne Mountain senior Barrett Kerrigan, an Air Force commit. Kerrigan won the 200 free in a personal best time of 1:40.46 and repeated as champion in the 500 free with a time of 4:36.79.
Glenwood Springs won two of the three relays, first claiming the 200 medley in a time of 1:31.78 behind the team of Breck Boyd (22.47), Brian Molloy (25.74), Andrew Molloy (22.79) and Tyson Boyd (20.78).
In the 200 free relay, the Glenwood Springs team of B. Boyd (20.64), Molloy (20.94), Tennyson Sipes (21.96) and T. Boyd (20.64) won in a time of 1:24.18.
The 400 free relay was captured by JK Mullen in 3:07.12 behind the team of Oscar Valdez (47.25), Asher Howe (46.58), Sam Lombardo (48.93) and Thomas Bradac (44.36).
Other individual winners were:
- Bradac, a TCU commit and senior at JK Mullen, won the 50 free in 20.21.
- Evergreen senior Henry Palmquist won the 1-meter diving event with 621.15 points.
- Monarch junior Isaac Skillern captured the 100 fly in a time of 50.11.
- Mountain View senior JJ Phillips, a George Washington commit, won the 100 free in a personal best time of 44.42.
- Breck Boyd, a UC-Santa Barbara commit, won the 100 back in a time of 49.92 after taking 2nd in the event last year.
Team Standings — Top 5
- Monarch, 355.5
- JK Mullen 344
- Glenwood Springs, 340.5
- Littleton, 221.5
- Mountain View, 216
Colorado football made another splash on the class of 2027 recruiting trail Tuesday, landing a commitment from three-star edge rusher Ba’Roc Willis.
Willis, a former Alabama commit, is coming off an official visit this past weekend and clearly came away impressed, announcing his decision just days after. 247Sports ranks the pass rusher as the No. 581 overall player in the class of 2027, the No. 48 linebacker and No. 22 player from Alabama.
Colorado got off to a slow start with the class of 2027, but has picked it up over the last few months. Four-star quarterback Andre Adams joined in April, as did three-star offensive lineman Kenny Fairley. It is still early, but the program has started to pick up steam with its 2027 recruiting class as the summer recruiting season nears.
After Willis, here is where the Buffaloes’ class of 2027 now ranks nationally.
Colorado football updated class of 2027 recruiting ranking after Ba’Roc Willis’ commitment
- On3: No. 45 overall, No. 6 Big 12
- 247Sports: No. 62 overall, No. 10 Big 12
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