By: Teresa Gong

Former mortuary manager Cedric Lodge has been charged in connection with the theft and sale of dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to Harvard Medical School. Lodge’s wife, Denise, and three others were also indicted. The scheme took place from 2018 to early 2023 without the school’s knowledge or permission. The stolen body parts, which included heads, brains, skin, and bones, were sometimes taken back to Lodge’s home, while others were sent to buyers through the mail. Lodge also allowed buyers to buy body parts out of the morgue itself.

Harvard Medical School has shown disappointment and sorrow at the betrayal. When the stolen cadavers were no longer needed for education, teaching, or research, they should have been incinerated. The ashes were to be returned to the donor’s family or interred in a cemetery.

The indictment charges Cedric and Denise Lodge, along with Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and Mathew Lampi, with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. The defendants were part of a nationwide network involved in the trafficking of stolen remains, including those taken from the Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.

“We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others,” the Harvard Medical deans wrote. “The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to donate their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research.”

Two others, Candace Chapman Scott and Jeremy Pauley, have previously been charged in the case. Scott allegedly stole body parts from the mortuary in Arkansas where she worked, and Pauley is accused of buying some of the stolen remains and subsequently selling them to Lampi and others.

Denise Lodge made her initial court appearance and was released on personal recognizance bail, while Lodge is scheduled to appear in court later. It is not known if any of the defendants have retained a lawyer to comment on their behalf. Both Scott and Pauley have pleaded not guilty.