By: Madison Tian
Over the past five years, a network of people across the nation has conspired to steal body parts from cadavers at the Harvard Medical School Morgue. Heads, brains, skin, and bone were mailed to buyers without the knowledge of the school. Prosecutors recently indicted four individuals, including Cedric Lodge, formerly a manager at the morgue.
The Anatomical Gift Program at Harvard Medical School allows people to donate their bodies to the school for education and research. The school normally cremates or buries the cadavers after it is done using them. Lodge stole parts of the cadavers and sold them to buyers, who he contacted online. He also sometimes invited buyers to visit the morgue, where they could examine the bodies and choose which parts they wanted. Lodge would then either transport the stolen goods back to his home in New Hampshire or ship them across the country to his customers.
Harvard Medical School Deans George Daley and Edward Hundert stated that the school was unaware of the situation and called the theft a “disturbing betrayal” on the school’s website. Lodge was fired on May 6.
Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have charged Lodge, as well as Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and Mathew Lampi, with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen remains. The prosecutors stated that Maclean and Taylor bought the remains from Lodge through social media and phone calls before then reselling them to other buyers.
Prosecutors believe Lodge to be a part of a national network trading human body parts. Two others involved in this network, who shared connections to Lodge’s customers, have been indicted in the past. Candace Chapman Scott, who worked at a morgue in Arkansas, sold bodies instead of cremating them. Most of the bodies were donated for educational purposes to a medical school in Arkansas. Jeremy Pauley was charged for buying some parts from Scott, and resold many remains to others, including Lampi, who exchanged a total of over $100,000 with him. Both Pauley and Scott pleaded not guilty.
Cedric Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, who was also involved in the transactions, appeared in court on Wednesday, June 14. Cedric Lodge also appeared in court later that day. Neither the defendants nor their lawyers have released any comments yet.
Sisters Paula Peltonovich and Darlene Lynch were among the living family members of donors whose remains Lodge stole. Their father had donated his body for the advancement of medical science. Peltonovich stated the defendants had “no respect at all for the family” and “[needed] to pay”.
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