PUEBLO • Two more bodies found at former Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter’s Davis Mortuary have been identified, leaving 18 more to be put through a DNA identification process that could take months, authorities announced.

The six identified bodies were reportedly sent to the mortuary between 2010 and 2012, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said at a news conference on Wednesday. Officials are under the impression that all 24 bodies fall within that time range.

Davis Mortuary has been under summary suspension since state officials discovered the bodies inside a hidden room at the funeral home on Aug. 20 during a mandatory inspection, which only recently became authorized after a bill was signed into law during a legislative session in 2024. At the time of the discovery, Cotter allegedly told inspectors that some of the remains had been decomposing inside the mortuary for 15 years and that some next-of-kin were given fake ashes.

Cotter and his co-owner and brother, Chris Cotter, have not been arrested for the alleged crimes, and Pueblo District Attorney Kala Beauvais remained adamant Wednesday that charges won’t be filed until the investigation is completed, which is estimated to be months away.

“I know the community is outraged and feels betrayed,” Beauvis said. “(But) because my office is dedicated to true justice, I am determined to get this case right. The filing of charges will be done correctly the first time.”

The main holdup is the identification process, said CBI Assistant Director Clint Thomason. The bureau has exhausted the two basic methods of identifying a body – dental records and fingerprints – so now it needs to undergo the longer process of DNA identification.

Since the bodies are more than a decade old, and the mortuary’s record-keeping was paper-based, identifying the bodies has been difficult. If authorities can’t identify all the remains, Beauvais said charges will follow, but only when all of the resources for identification have been exhausted.

Since the initial press conference in August, authorities have remained adamant that the Cotter brothers aren’t a flight risk. Since then, Cotter’s lawyers sent out a resignation letter to reporters explaining that the 64-year-old was hospitalized from a heart attack after the discovery, but he’s been spotted outside of the hospital since.

When asked how they will ensure the brothers stay in town while the investigation continues, Thomason told reporters that the two have been in the community “their whole lives”, and authorities have been in touch with their lawyers weekly.

Thomason confirmed investigators have not talked to the Cotter brothers, who immediately retained lawyers after the discovery.

Neighbors say they’ve spotted Cotter outside a handful of times since law enforcement raided the house in late August.

Bernadette Martinez told The Gazette that their typical neighborly interactions haven’t changed since the discovery, recalling a time when the two waved at each other while he was in his yard a few weeks ago.

However, her perspective on Cotter has. His “grandfatherly persona” now has a dark undertone.

“It was shocking to say the least. You don’t want to believe that someone who lives houses down from you is capable of something like that,” Martinez said. “It’s an eerie feeling.”

But it wasn’t always that way.

Martinez met Cotter in 2021 when she moved into the quiet suburban neighborhood about 10 minutes away from downtown Pueblo, where the mortuary stands. Her daughter had asked to pet Cotter’s old dog, and the two would have the typical common courtesy exchanges thereafter.

When it rained, Cotter would watch her daughter and other kids jump in the puddles.

“He enjoyed watching the kids be kids and be outside and play, which was nice because you don’t see that often nowadays” Martinez said. “He was very grandfatherly. Interactions were always very nice and sweet.”

Other neighbors, who wished not to be interviewed, shared similar sentiments, saying the discovery at the mortuary was shocking and didn’t match the friendly man who mostly kept to himself but would smile and wave whenever they saw him.

Since authorities raided his house, neighbors say Cotter is rarely seen outside, but his black van, which was parked outside the home on Wednesday, comes and goes occasionally.

Like the neighborhood, activity around Davis Mortuary was quiet Wednesday morning. The frontside was boarded up, and the front door was locked. A blue tarp that blocked onlookers from seeing law enforcement activity has since been taken down after the bodies were removed from the mortuary.

Three cars were parked in the back lot of the building, which is shared by a Masonic Lodge and an old fire station that’s now a museum. Authorities said the lodge rented the mortuary to the Cotter brothers, but it has no other ties and is not being investigated.

While the mortuary itself is under suspension, Thomason confirmed that Cotter has not relinquished his funeral home license, which the state suspended.

Regardless, the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is in the process of revoking the license.

As the investigation continues, officials asked affected families who used the mortuary from 2010-12 to fill out a Google form because their loved one may be one of the bodies.

The Colorado Division of Insurance has also launched an investigation into the mortuary, and people who believe their pre-need funeral contract was impacted are encouraged to fill out a separate form.

“Please be patient with us. I have basically my entire office working on this, and we will try to get it done as quickly as possible,” Thomason said.