Six people accused of trafficking human remains

A Pennsylvania district attorney charged six people Wednesday with trafficking stolen human remains. Another person was charged earlier in Arkansas. The indictment describes a nationwide network that bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary. Two suspects pleaded not guilty, and two others declined to comment as they left the courthouse Wednesday.

How did they steal them? Most of the bodies were donated for research and were meant to be eventually cremated, according to the indictment. Instead, authorities allege that the manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School stole organs and other parts of cadavers before they could be cremated. They also accused him of letting buyers come to the morgue to pick out body parts. Arkansas authorities previously indicted an employee of a Little Rock mortuary and crematorium for stealing body parts from her employer.

Dig deeper: Listen to Cal Thomas’ report on The World and Everything in It podcast about a connection between the breakdown of the family and increased crime.