All articles tagged with #body theft
Cedric Lodge, a former Harvard Medical School morgue manager, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for stealing and selling body parts donated to the school, exposing a nationwide network of human remains trading and affecting over 400 families. His wife received a one-year sentence, and both pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen goods, with the scheme lasting at least four years and earning them up to $95,000.
Families of donors to Harvard Medical School are outraged and grieving after the alleged theft of body parts by the morgue's longtime manager and his wife. The couple is accused of selling off skin, bones, and brains from the bodies of donors, with prosecutors claiming that potential customers were even allowed inside the morgue to pick out which parts they wanted. Harvard has set up a hotline and sent letters to families of people who donated their bodies to the program, but families are still grappling with the allegations. Medical school morgues have no state or federal oversight, making them vulnerable to thefts, experts say.