6 Charged After Body Parts Stolen From Harvard Shipped Across States

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Six people have been charged with trafficking human remains after a Harvard Medical School morgue manager was accused of stealing dissected body parts and taking them to New Hampshire, according to a Wednesday statement by the FBI Boston and a federal indictment obtained by Patch.

The morgue manager, identified as Cedric Lodge, 55, is accused of working with his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, to sell the remains—which included dissected faces and other skin, brains, and bones—the indictment said. The remains were sometimes shipped through the U.S. Postal Service, according to the indictment.

Also indicted on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges is Katrina MaClean, 44, of Salem, Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, the FBI announced Wednesday. Additionally, Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, was charged with criminal information, and Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, Arkansas, was previously indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas, according to officials.

The indictment names MacLean, who owns Kat's Creepy Creations in Peabody, as a buyer. According to the indictment, MacLean bought remains from Lodge before reselling them to people in multiple states, including Massachusetts.

Taylor is accused of paying Denise Lodge more than $37,000 between 2018 and 2021 via PayPal, the indictment said.

MaClean and Taylor resold the stolen remains for profit, including to Pauley, according to the FBI. Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Scott, who stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium, according to the FBI.

Pauley sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals— including Lampi— and Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments, officials said.

According to the indictment, Harvard Medical School maintained an onsite morgue facility where donated cadavers were stored and used for education and research purposes.

"At times, Cedric Lodge used his access to the morgue to allow Katrina MacLean, Joshua Taylor and others to enter the morgue and choose what remains to purchase," the indictment said.

One of the digital notes attached to a transaction read "head number 7," the indictment said. Another read "braiiiiiins."

“Some crimes defy understanding,” United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in the news release. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling. With these charges, we are seeking to secure some measure of justice for all these victims."