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.

State inspectors believe there may be about 20 bodies that were improperly stored inside Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, a business co-owned by the current coroner of the county.

News Brian Cotter, the elected Pueblo County Coroner since 2015, made statewide headlines Thursday, Aug. 21, following a mandatory inspection from state officials (on Aug. 20), who reported that, while investigating Cotter’s privately owned funeral home,

Davis Mortuary is where Coroner Brian Cotter claimed false professional credentials while bodies decomposed for years behind hidden doors.