A Limon woman has filed suit against the Pueblo mortuary where she alleges her father’s remains were among at least 23 others left to decay in a concealed room discovered last year.

Crystal Kiniston’s March 13 breach of contract lawsuit joins that of three other families who filed suit last year against the mortuary and its owners, Brian and Chris Cotter.

The newest lawsuit also names as defendants the two nonprofits of the Pueblo Masonic Temple, which owned the mortuary building, and Valley Memorial Funeral Chapel, which provided funeral services for Kiniston’s father.

Davis Mortuary came under investigation last year, after a newly required annual inspection revealed decomposing human remains behind a hidden door.

Brian Cotter, who also served as the elected Pueblo County coroner, allegedly told investigators that some of the bodies had been in the mortuary for about 15 years and that he may have provided family members with fake cremains, according to the lawsuit’s complaint.

Allegedly among the discovered remains were those of Charles Russell, Kiniston’s father, who died in 2011. According to court documents, Kiniston paid for funeral services and received what she believed were her father’s cremated remains, along with a container and certificate.

Attorneys for Kiniston declined comment, writing that the matter involved “deeply personal circumstances.”

Charles Russell is the fourth person identified as a victim by name in court filings. In a November complaint, the families of three other people whose remains were found also filed for relief in civil court.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in October that six bodies have been identified among the remains. Identification remains a “slow, methodical process,” according to the CBI’s statement, due to the age of the remains and the mortuary’s paper-based record-keeping process.

The CBI said then that criminal charges in the case could still be months away, requiring the completion of the identification process.

The earlier lawsuit’s plaintiffs include the grandfather of Soledad Cordova, the wife and children of Melvin Emerson, and the son and daughter-in-law of Carl Walker.

Each of the three decedents died more than a decade ago, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleged that some family members received personal assurances from Brian Cotter about the care of their loved ones.

In the case of John Cordova, the November court filing alleges that Cotter was a “lifelong friend” entrusted with the remains of his infant granddaughter. According to the lawsuit, the child was found in a white box inscribed with her name and wrapped in a green ribbon, none of which was requested by the family or necessary for the cremation process.

The lawsuit also alleges that Cotter refused Patricia Emerson a viewing of her husband’s body before he “personally delivered” what the family believed were Melvin Emerson’s cremains.

Both lawsuits allege that the smell of the concealed bodies would have been noticeable to people on the property, claiming that “the scent associated with decaying and rotting human bodies is unique, powerful, and unmistaken.”

According to the lawsuits, Brian Cotter was briefly a state leader in the Freemasons. The mortuary occasionally coordinated with the organization to hold post-funeral receptions, according to the filings. The building that housed the mortuary is owned by the fraternal organization.

In an answer filing, the Pueblo Masonic Temple said the building was used only for annual Board of Directors meetings, but that tenant organizations may have hosted post-funeral receptions. The court document also included a crossclaim against Davis Mortuary for nonpayment of rent and “use of the premises for questionable purposes.”

The CBI said in the October statement that there was no reason to believe the Freemason organization was a suspect in the case.

The latest activity in the first lawsuit was a motion by the families for a default ruling against Chris Cotter, who has not yet entered an answer in the case. A court date has not yet been set.

None of the listed defendants has yet responded in Kiniston’s lawsuit, according to online court records.