Harvard offers families millions after morgue manager stole body parts

The Massachusetts Ivy League school proposed a settlement of $53 million to families whose loved ones’ bodies had been stolen and sold by a morgue staff member.

Former morgue manager Cedric Lodge pleaded guilty in May of 2025 to stealing and selling human remains on the black market in a scheme that ran from 2018 to 2021. He received an eight-year prison sentence. His wife, Denise, also pleaded guilty in early 2025 and received a sentence of just over one year for aiding him in reselling the body parts. It is unclear how many bodies he stole, as he primarily traded in loose body parts, stealing them in the window between the conclusion of research and the dignified disposal method previously agreed upon by the donor and the school, according to investigation reports. Harvard officials said that six others who bought remains from Lodge but were unconnected with the university were indicted, pleaded guilty, and have been sentenced.

Harvard officials called Lodge’s actions a flagrant betrayal of the school’s medical values, labeling his crime despicable and abhorrent, in a Monday statement. His actions did not reflect the reverence the Harvard Medical School held for the individuals who donated their bodies to the school’s Anatomical Gift Program, the statement continued.

The gifted cadavers were an essential part of students’ academic experience, and in a letter sent to family and next of kin of the wronged donors, Harvard students called those learning opportunities rare and sacred, helping to shape the students into nascent physicians. The students who wrote the letter said they were devastated by Lodge’s actions and by his unthinkable breach of trust.

Harvard expected the multimillion-dollar settlement to take several months from beginning to end, and informed families that updates would be issued when available. The school also established a new scholarship honoring all anatomical donors. While the past could not be rewritten, the students provided profound hope for the future, the statement concluded.