A group of people stole and sold off human remains from Harvard Medical School's morgue, federal prosecutors say, with a grand jury indicting the morgue's manager and his wife, among others.
The body part-stealing scheme stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where one of the defendants lives. Another defendant runs a store called Kat's Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts, that was searched in March.
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Cedric Lodge, the morgue manager, is accused of letting buyers come into the morgue to pick what remains they wanted to buy, then stealing parts of donated cadavers like brains, skin and bones, taking them to his home in New Hampshire and shipping them to buyers through the mail.
Prosecutors also said Denise Lodge, Cedric Lodge's wife; Katrina Maclean; Joshua Taylor; Mathew Lampi; and Jeremy Pauley were charged. It wasn't immediately clear if all had attorneys who could speak to the charges. A mortician from Arkansas was previously charged in the investigation.
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A federal grand jury has brought charges of conspiracy and transporting stolen goods across state lines against all six people. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison for the charges, prosecutors said.
Reaction from federal prosecutors, Harvard
"Some crimes defy understanding," said U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam in a statement. "The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling."
He characterized Harvard Medical School as another victim of the scheme and appreciated their cooperation with the federal investigation.
Cedric Lodge, 55, was fired on May 6, the Harvard medical deans wrote to the community in a message titled, "An abhorrent betrayal." The university has been working with federal investigators and examining logs of cremations to see which anatomical donors may have been affected by the incident.
"We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others. The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research," said the statement from George Daley, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University and Edward Hundert, the dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School
They offered an apology to the families and loved ones and donors, offering them resources including a 24/7 counseling hotline — anyone who thinks they may have been affected by the scheme can also reach out to federal investigators at usapam-victim.information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. They also said Harvard has also appointed an external panel to investigate the policies and practices at the morgue and the Anatomical Gift Program.
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Cedric Lodge's name was no longer listed on Harvard Medical School's website as of Wednesday, but an archived version of his biography page said he'd worked with the school's Anatomical Gift Program since fall 1995 and that he was responsible for "maintaining the anatomical morgue and teaching labs while working closely with HMS faculty and students."
He didn't answer questions leaving federal court in New Hampshire — the Goffstown was released and will have to appear in a Pennsylvania court at a later date. Denise Lodge, 63, had a hearing earlier in the day in New Hampshire.
Investigators outline black market for body parts
The federal complaint depicts a busy black market in human remains facilitated by the Lodges, who allegedly took body parts before they were scheduled to be cremated.
In 2020, Maclean allegedly paid $600 for two desiccated faces she picked up at the school's morgue from Cedric Lodge. Months later, Taylor, who is from West Lawn, Pennsylvania, sent Denise Lodge "$200 with a memo that read, 'braiiiiiins,'" according to the complaint.
In all, Taylor, 46, is accused of sending the Lodges over $37,000 for human remains.
The FBI confirmed in March that agents searched two locations in Peabody, including Kat's Creepy Creations. The bureau didn't comment on the search at the time.
The shop sells horror- and macabre-themed oddities. Multiple posts on the Kats Creepy Creations Instagram page depict what it says are human skulls, including one from February 2020 that says, "If you’re in the market for human bones hit me up!"
The 44-year-old from Salem, Massachusetts, didn't respond to questions from reporters outside of federal court in Boston Wednesday.
Maclean is also accused of sending human skin to Pauley, a 41-year-old from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, who was arrested there last year and is accused of buying stolen remains from a mortuary employee in Arkansas, including the remains of two stillborn babies who were meant to be cremated.
Pauley's Instagram account also shows a plethora of human remains for sale, including brains, teeth and bone.
He and Lampi, a 52-year-old from East Bethel, Minnesota, allegedly exchanged more than $100,000 as they bought and sold goods made from remains.
