Pueblo County’s coroner faces state probe after decaying bodies found hidden at his private practice

Updated at 10:36 a.m. on Friday, August 22, 2025.

State law enforcement officials have launched a criminal investigation into a funeral home whose owner — Pueblo’s county coroner — admitted to giving family members fake remains and delaying cremations for years.

During a routine inspection at Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, state officials found several bodies in various stages of decomposition. Brian Cotter, Pueblo County's coroner, co-owns the funeral home along with his brother. He told inspectors that some of the bodies had been awaiting cremation for approximately 15 years. He also acknowledged that he gave family members of the deceased fake cremains. 

At a press conference at the Pueblo County Emergency Operations Center on Thursday afternoon, authorities with multiple local and state agencies shared further details about the investigation.

Sam Delp, director of the state Division of Professions and Occupations, which conducted the inspection, said they received statements from people at the funeral home who said there were about 20 bodies at the location.

He said investigators did not enter the room where the bodies were allegedly stored and only saw them from a doorway in order to assess how many there were. 

And while there did appear to be a refrigeration unit in the room, Delp said the bodies were located in a “regular room,” and it was unclear if there were contents in the unit or if it was functional as a refrigeration unit.

“They would have started moving them around, which is not what we wanted them to be doing,” Delp said, referring to the investigators at the scene.

Delp said the inspection was part of new requirements since a trio of House bills passed last year to further regulate the funeral industry.  

Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said neither Cotter nor his brother are under arrest. 

“We want to make sure that we have the best information before we conduct interviews,” Lucero said. 

Lucero said the investigation is in its early stages with authorities from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Pueblo County Sheriff and Pueblo Police Department divvying up responsibilities, including interviews.

CBI Director Armando Saldate said Cotter is still the coroner, but officials were exploring how to obtain a different coroner to “process the scene and help us process the remains.” 

Saldate said they have some of the same experts on this case who also worked on a similar case in Penrose, where funeral home owners improperly stored nearly 200 bodies. He said those same investigators were executing search warrants and collecting evidence with the help of Colorado State Patrol’s hazardous materials operators. 

A judge last year ordered that the funeral home, Return to Nature, pay $950 million to families whose loved ones’ remains were mishandled.

Return to Nature promised a more natural way to be buried, but authorities found abandoned bodies left to decay at room temperature at the site. They say 190 bodies were found in all. 

“As you can only imagine, the situation of decomposing bodies in various states and we’re getting an assessment,” Saldate said, in relation to the case in Pueblo.

On Thursday evening, the city of Pueblo announced that Mayor Heather Graham, Pueblo County commissioners and Sheriff Lucero signed a joint emergency declaration to receive state resources during this time for all deaths in Pueblo County.

While neither Cotter nor his brother have been formally charged, operations at Davis Mortuary have been suspended. 

Delp said the funeral home cannot legally operate in the state based on the following suspicions: 

• Engaging in willfully dishonest conduct or committing negligence in the practice of embalming, funeral directing or disposition that defrauds or causes injury or is likely to defraud or cause injury
• Failing to embalm, refrigerate, cremate, bury or entomb human remains within 24 hours after taking custody of those arrangements
• Taking custody of more human remains than the funeral establishment has capacity to refrigerate unless the funeral establishment maintains custody of those remains for less than 24 hours

While individuals working within the funeral industry aren’t currently required to hold a license, Delp said the requirement will begin in January 2027. 

“While this discovery is tragic, it shows that the new legislative effort is working and we will continue to support the efforts to locate problems within this industry and most others.” 

Officials say people who are concerned their loved one's remains were improperly handled can call the information line (719)-257-3359 for more information.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with more details, including clarifying how many bodies were estimated in the funeral home.