State inspectors in Colorado have uncovered a grim scene at a funeral home operated by a county coroner, where decomposing bodies were discovered behind a hidden door. Authorities revealed on Thursday that the coroner admitted he might have provided fake ashes to grieving relatives who had requested cremations.

Multiple decomposing bodies were discovered behind a hidden door in a Pueblo funeral home run by the county coroner during an annual inspection, state officials said.

Colorado state inspectors discovered roughly 20 decomposing bodies stashed in a hidden room of a funeral home manned by a county coroner, according to authorities. The corpses were found on Wednesday in a room behind a door that was concealed by a cardboard display during an inspection of Davis Mortuary in Pueblo.