Did you know there’s a black market for human body parts that’s worth millions of dollars? It sounds like something from a horror movie, but it’s shockingly real. While most of us think that when we donate our bodies to science, they’ll be used respectfully for medical research or education, some unscrupulous people have other ideas. They see dollar signs instead of dignity. The stories I’m about to share might make your skin crawl, but they shed light on a dark corner of society that many don’t know exists.
The funeral home directors who sold bodies without permission
Imagine planning a funeral for your loved one, trusting the funeral home to carry out your wishes with respect and care. For families who worked with Megan Hess and Shirley Koch in Colorado, that trust was horribly betrayed. Between 2010 and 2018, this mother-daughter team who ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had a side business that makes your blood run cold. They would meet with grieving families who wanted cremation services but instead of honoring those wishes, they would secretly harvest body parts or even entire bodies to sell for profit.
What makes this case especially awful is that they did this even when families had specifically said no to donation. And it gets worse. Sometimes they shipped bodies and body parts that had tested positive for serious infections like Hepatitis B, C, and HIV, while lying to buyers that the remains were disease-free. Their greed and complete disregard for basic human decency earned them serious prison time – 20 years for Hess and 15 for Koch. The judge called it one of the most emotionally draining cases of his career, and it’s not hard to see why.
Harvard’s morgue manager who stole and sold cadaver parts
You’d think a prestigious institution like Harvard Medical School would be above board in all its dealings, especially with something as sensitive as donated human remains. Turns out, that’s not always the case. Cedric Lodge, who managed Harvard’s morgue, was arrested in 2023 for allegedly stealing organs and body parts from cadavers that had been donated for medical research and education. This wasn’t just a one-time thing – he allegedly did this from 2018 to 2022, running a grotesque shopping service where buyers could come into the morgue and pick out the body parts they wanted.
The whole thing reads like a horror novel. Lodge would allegedly steal everything from brains to skin to entire heads, then sell them to buyers like Katrina MacLean, owner of a business called “Kat’s Creepy Creations,” and Joshua Taylor. These buyers would then resell the parts to others in their network, including a central figure named Jeremy Pauley. The group made thousands of dollars trafficking in stolen human remains, including those of stillborn babies. It’s a stark reminder that even places we associate with medical ethics and human dignity can harbor those willing to profit from the dead.
The body broker company that targeted poor families
Stephen Gore (yes, that was really his name) ran Biological Resource Center (BRC) in Phoenix, Arizona, a company that was supposed to help connect body donors with medical research facilities. On the surface, it sounded like a noble mission. But what really happened behind closed doors would make anyone’s stomach turn. BRC employees would cut up bodies and sell the parts to various medical and research organizations, often without proper consent from donors or their families. They specifically targeted poor and disadvantaged people, promising free cremation in exchange for body donation.
In 2014, federal agents raided BRC and what they found was horrifying – over 1,700 body parts that had been harvested. Bodies that families thought were being used to advance medical science were actually being dismembered and sold piece by piece, like inventory in a warehouse. One FBI agent described finding a cooler full of heads, legs, and arms, with a price list attached – $500 for a head, $750 for a torso. Gore eventually pled guilty to conducting an illegal business and was sentenced to probation. The remains were finally cremated after sitting in limbo for almost three years.
The UCLA morgue director who made millions from cadavers
Harry Reid (not the politician) had what seemed like a respectable job as the director of UCLA’s Willed Body Program. People donated their bodies to this program believing they would help train future doctors or advance medical research. Instead, Reid saw dollar signs. He allegedly made around $1 million by selling donated cadavers and organs on the side. Think about that – a person responsible for managing bodies that were donated for education and research was secretly selling them for personal profit.
What’s particularly disturbing about this case is how it violates the trust of those who made the ultimate donation. Many people choose to donate their bodies because they want to contribute to medical advancement even after death. They sign the forms believing their remains will be treated with respect and used for the greater good. Reid completely betrayed that trust. His case, which came to light in 2004, was one of the earlier high-profile incidents that exposed the problem of illegal body part trafficking in the United States, but unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last.
The kidney broker who charged $160,000 per organ
Levy Izhak Rosenbaum called himself a “matchmaker,” but he wasn’t setting up dates – he was brokering kidney sales in what authorities believe was the first proven case of organ trafficking in the United States. How did his scheme work? He would buy kidneys from vulnerable people in Israel for about $10,000 each. Then he would turn around and sell those same kidneys to desperate patients in the U.S. for up to $160,000. That’s a markup that would make even the greediest businesses blush. His activities came to light during an FBI sting operation, and in 2011, he pleaded guilty in federal court.
Organ selling is illegal in practically every country except Iran, and for good reason. It exploits the desperation of poor people who feel they have no choice but to sell parts of their bodies to survive. At the same time, it gives an unfair advantage to wealthy patients who can afford to pay six figures to skip the waiting list. While Rosenbaum’s lawyers tried to paint him as providing a life-saving service, prosecutors correctly identified his business as an affront to human dignity that turned the human body into a commodity. He was eventually sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.
The body broker who dumped remains in the desert
Walter Harold Mitchell III ran a body donation business in Seattle called Future GenEx. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he decided to close shop and move to Arizona. But he had a problem – what to do with all the human remains in his possession? Most people would have made arrangements to properly dispose of the remains or transfer them to another facility. Mitchell chose a different path. He simply packed up body parts in coolers and drove to Arizona, where he dumped them in the desert outside Prescott.
The remains were discovered when hikers came across human heads and other body parts scattered across a remote area. Investigators eventually found a total of 24 body parts, including 5 heads, belonging to 9 different people. DNA testing connected the remains to Mitchell’s business. The casual disregard for human dignity shown by dumping people’s remains like garbage is truly shocking. Mitchell was arrested and charged with 29 counts of abandonment or concealment of a dead body. His case highlights the need for stronger oversight of the body donation industry to prevent such abuses.
The man who sold diseased body parts to doctors
Arthur Rathburn ran a business that supplied human body parts to medical professionals for training and research – a legal enterprise if done properly. But Rathburn cut corners in the worst possible ways. He sold body parts that he knew were infected with diseases like HIV and hepatitis without telling the buyers. He stored human heads in coolers filled with mouthwash instead of using proper preservation methods. And when it came time to ship body parts, he would cram them into plastic containers with pools of blood at the bottom.
The conditions in his warehouse were described as “filthy.” When federal agents raided it in 2013, they found dead flies, frozen body parts covered in mold, and body fluids pooled on the floor. Rathburn’s actions weren’t just disgusting – they were dangerous. Medical professionals who unwittingly worked with the infected body parts could have been exposed to serious diseases. In 2018, he was convicted of fraud and shipping hazardous materials and sentenced to 9 years in prison. His case led to calls for greater regulation of the body broker industry, which operates with surprisingly little oversight.
The Indian doctors who ran an illegal kidney removal ring
In 2008, police in India uncovered an extensive illegal kidney operation that had performed an estimated 500 illegal transplants. The racket was run by a group of doctors who would lure or coerce poor people into selling their kidneys, then perform the operations in a secret clinic. Some victims reported being offered jobs, then being drugged and waking up to find they were missing a kidney. Others were paid as little as $1,000 for an organ that would then be transplanted into a wealthy recipient for up to $50,000.
The case made international headlines because it highlighted the dark side of transplant medicine – the exploitation of the poor to benefit the rich. India has a particular problem with illegal organ trading, with an estimated 2,000 people selling a kidney annually. The global shortage of organs creates a perfect storm: desperate patients willing to pay anything for a life-saving transplant, poor people in need of quick cash, and unethical doctors ready to profit from both sides. The main doctor behind the scheme, Amit Kumar, was eventually caught in Nepal after fleeing India and faced life imprisonment.
What all these cases have in common is the complete disregard for human dignity. Behind each body part sold is a person who didn’t consent to being treated as merchandise, and a family who trusted that their loved one’s remains would be handled with respect. While laws exist to prevent organ trafficking, the oversight of body donation programs remains spotty at best. As these cases show, wherever there’s money to be made, some people will set aside all ethical considerations – even when it comes to something as personal as the human body.
