PUEBLO — The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Pueblo Police Department and the FBI converged at a funeral home co-owned by Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter and his brother, Chris, on Thursday after State inspectors found several bodies hidden during an annual inspection on Wednesday.

Stay with Gazette.com for live updates. 

4 p.m.

Officials said at an afternoon news conference that they are investigating both Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter, the president of Davis Mortuary, and his brother and mortuary co-owner, Chris Cotter.

Neither are under arrest nor have they been told to avoid leaving the state. Brian Cotter has been located and investigators are reaching out to Chris Cotter

CBI Director Armando Saldate said the investigation includes whether the Cotters benefited financially from keeping bodies in the funeral home.

There were “20 or so” bodies discovered according to Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of Professions and Occupations Director Sam Delp. He said the official number has not been determined yet because the bodies would have had to have been “moved around.”

Some of the bodies may be as old as 15 years, according to Delp, but the ages had not been investigated at the time of the news conference, which has concluded.

3:45 p.m.

Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero has begun speaking at the press conference and said this investigation is “rocking our community” and that it may take days or months to complete. 

A CBI tip line and victim assistance hotline is 719-257-3359. 

3:40 p.m.

Saldate expressed his condolences for the victims and described the bodies in the mortuary as “terribly disrespected.”

He described the investigation as complex and said “it will take some time.” Some investigators on the scene, which included the FBI, worked on the Return to Nature Funeral Home case. 

CBI investigators are executing a search warrant on the premises, and the Colorado State Patrol hazmat team is on the scene, according to Saldate. 

3:30 p.m.

The press conference led by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation about the Cotter brothers and the Davis Mortuary in Pueblo has begun. 

1:30 p.m.

CBI arrived at the mortuary with a hazard team. At least a dozen CBI vehicles were there, and people were seen putting on gas masks as officers taped off the area. 

Upon finding finding the bodies, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) has been fully cooperating with the Pueblo Police Department, the state agency said in their statement. 

1 p.m.

It is unknown who will assume control of the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office following the allegations. As the largest office in Colorado, the El Paso County Coroner’s Office has historically performed examinations in cases involving a conflict of interest for the Pueblo coroner, according to a statement from Coroner Emily Russell-Kinsley. 

“The El Paso County Coroner’s Office is willing to assist with the current investigation as necessary. Simultaneously, we will remain in our service to the citizens of El Paso County,” Russell-Kinsley said in the statement. 

According to the Pueblo County website, Cotter has spent more than 20 years with the Coroner’s Office, and has over 25 years of “death care” experience. His biography on the website states he worked as a mortician, a state death investigator and a diplomat for the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. 

Background

Davis Mortuary, 128 Broadway Ave. in Pueblo, is under summary suspension after inspectors entered the business and noticed a “strong odor of decomposition” and a door hidden by a cardboard display during a mandatory annual inspection Wednesday, according to a statement from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the incident, a spokesperson from the agency confirmed Thursday. 

[inline_image src=”aHR0cHM6Ly9ibG94aW1hZ2VzLm5ld3lvcmsxLnZpcC50b3dubmV3cy5jb20vZ2F6ZXR0ZS5jb20vY29udGVudC90bmNtcy9hc3NldHMvdjMvZWRpdG9yaWFsLzMvNzEvMzcxNWFhZTktOGU2MS00MzhlLWFjYTQtMzBkMzcyN2NlOGJjLzY4YTczYmE4MTk5MDMuaW1hZ2UucG5n” alt=”RGF2aXMgTW9ydHVhcnk=” caption=”UGljdHVyZSBvZiBEYXZpcyBNb3J0dWFyeSwgYSBwcml2YXRlIGZ1bmVyYWwgaG9tZSBvd25lZCBieSBQdWVibG8gQ291bnR5IENvcm9uZXIgQnJpYW4gQ290dGVyLiBDb3R0ZXIgaXMgYmVpbmcgYWNjdXNlZCBvZiBoaWRpbmcgc2V2ZXJhbCBib2RpZXMgaW4gdmFyaW91cyBzdGFnZXMgb2YgZGVjb21wb3NpdGlvbiBpbnNpZGUgYSBoaWRkZW4gcm9vbSBhdCB0aGUgaG9tZS4=” credit=”Q291cnRlc3kgb2YgS09BQQ==”]

After entering the room, inspectors found several bodies in various stages of decomposition. Cotter, 64, allegedly told inspectors that the bodies were awaiting cremation and that some of them had been in the room for about 15 years.

He also admitted that he “may” have issued next-of-kin fake cremains, according to the state agency.

“Davis Mortuary engaged in willfully dishonest conduct and/or committed negligence in the practice of embalming, funeral director or providing for final disposition that defrauds or causes injury or is likely to defraud or cause injury,” the summary suspension document alleges.

The summary suspension further states that the funeral home was over capacity in the amount of bodies it could refrigerate.

Gazette reporters Grace Brajkovich, Mackenzie Bodell and Nick Smith contributed to this article.