The privately owned funeral home and mortuary run by Pueblo Coroner Brian Cotter was suspended after state inspectors found the decomposing bodies at his private office in the city of Pueblo, just over 100 miles south of Denver, the state's capital.

According to records by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Brian Cotter's funeral home was due for an inspection on Wednesday. When inspectors arrived, they noted "a strong odor of decomposition.