ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - Family members of victims whose remains have been mishandled by funeral professionals in Colorado re planning a memorial for their loved ones.

Since 2010, there have been several cases of funeral professionals mishandling remains, according to the Department of Regulatory Agencies. This includes the case of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, where bodies and body parts were sold without consent, as well as the Return to Nature Funeral Home, where nearly 200 bodies were found improperly stored.

Crystina Page has spoken to 11 News before about her son, whose body was found in the Return to Nature Penrose building. He died in 2019, and for years, Page said she thought she had his ashes in an urn. She recently found that the ashes belonged to someone else, and that there was no way to determine whose remains she had for at least four years.

It’s a story shared not only by the more than 1,000 family members still searching for answers as the local and federal case against the funeral home owners continues, but also victims of other cases.

“Over the last few years, there were more than 800 victims, according to the FBI,” Page said.

She added that in cases like the Return to Nature investigation, only 189 bodies have been found, but there were much more waiting to learn if their loved ones were properly taken care of or not.

It’s why she said she is heading up an effort to memorialize all victims of the death industry.

“This is a huge problem in the state of Colorado, and we’re hoping that by doing this memorial, we’ll be able to honor the victims and also the families that have been left behind,” she said.

Page shared with 11 News that Elbert County officials have verbally agreed to donate 150 acres of land for the planned memorial. Since the confirmation, Page has built a website with information on the memorial and how to get involved.

You can visit the website here.

“A lot of our loved ones have come to have been known for how they were left, not how they lived,” Page explained. “And I think this memorial will give us a way to honor them and remember how they lived.”

Page said she needs at least a hundred impacted family members to commit to the project to move it forward. From there, she said she plans to bring the plan to state officials to secure the land. She said that is currently planned for January, when the next legislative session begins.

In the meantime, she said those already committed to the project are setting up their organizational structure, fundraising plan, and gathering business partners to help them see the project through.

“I think this is an opportunity for those who feel like they’ve been left behind with the criminal cases to be involved in something that will move forward with their healing,” she said.

In the meantime, state officials are working to pass a bill that would put regulations on the industry and ensure cases like Return to Nature and Sunset Mesa never happen again.

You can see that bill and its progress here.

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