(FLORENCE, Colo.) — The FBI is now working diligently to identify the bodies discovered at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, a facility that advertised natural burial services. As the families who have used their services await a possible call, many are now wondering what they were given, if it wasn’t the ashes of their loved ones.

As some family members claim that concrete powder may have been provided to them instead, FOX21 spoke with a licensed funeral home director to understand the proper procedures in the funeral industry and what ashes should genuinely look like.

At the Colorado Burial Preserve in Florence, which is just a short 15-minute drive from the Penrose Return to Nature Funeral Home, they also offer natural burial services. They emphasize that their approach is a sacred one, involving the family at every step of the way.

Emily Miller, a licensed funeral director and owner of the Colorado Burial Preserve, spoke about the significance of natural burial.

“We specialize in natural burial. This is a new old movement,” said Miller. “The simple return of the body to the earth is one of the ways that almost everyone across all history and cultures around the world would have been cared for after their death. In more modern times, it’s also giving us benefits of a reduced carbon footprint on the funeral.”

Miller says many funeral professionals, like herself, enter this field to provide solace and support to people during their darkest days. She says they strive to ensure that questions of trust surrounding cremation or any funeral process are never raised. Miller, a certified crematory operator with over 12 years of experience in funeral service, explained the proper process of cremation.

“The first thing that has to happen is the death certificate filed, and that’s what generates a permit for the cremation to be able to go forward in the crematory. They’re going to be assigned an identification number which is inscribed on a little metal disc… that travels with the person and the person’s cremated remains, and it’s also labeled on the urn to go home with the cremation afterward,” Miller stated.

Miller explained that the cremation itself reduces the body to just skeletal remains. The skeletal remains are what then get pulverized into the ashes.

“So what we usually call the cremation ashes are actually the remains of the skeleton that didn’t break down all the way during the cremation process,” said Miller.

She also clarified that the color of cremated remains can range from bright white to a lighter gray.

“A cement product might lean to be more gray, and it might, because it’s been manufactured, have a more uniform particle size,” said Miller.

According to Miller, the consistency of the ashes is typically very fine but will have a variety of particle sizes in the mix ranging from dusty to slightly larger fragments.

“The smallest particle size is a very fine dust. It’s a type of dust that might stick to the plastic bag that the cremated remains are usually in inside the urn.”

Miller says the process of cremation is considered sacred, demanding a profound level of trust between the family and the funeral service provider. Funerals are not events that can be repeated, and they hold immense significance in providing closure and peace to the grieving family members.

“A lot of our other life events, we can repeat them annually until we get it just right… The funeral is only one chance to give this family the closure and the peace that they need to close this person’s story,” said Miller.

As of now, no arrests have been made in the case of the Return to Nature Funeral Home. Law enforcement officials have stated that the owners are cooperating with the investigation to determine if any criminal wrongdoing occurred.

The details surrounding this case have left many questioning why these actions are not considered criminal. Miller, who has dedicated her career to helping people in their most vulnerable moments, now joins the chorus of those who seek accountability for this shocking incident.

“The details seem like they’re as bad as they possibly could be for the victims and the families coming from the funeral industry… I don’t understand why this is not a crime,” said Miller.