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  4. Feds charge 4 in macabre black market scheme, saying human remains from Harvard's morgue ended up in creepy doll shop outside Salem, Mass.

Feds charge 4 in macabre black market scheme, saying human remains from Harvard's morgue ended up in creepy doll shop outside Salem, Mass.

Jake Swearingen   

Feds charge 4 in macabre black market scheme, saying human remains from Harvard's morgue ended up in creepy doll shop outside Salem, Mass.
  • Federal prosecutors say they've busted a nationwide ring trafficking in stolen human remains.
  • Harvard Medical School's morgue manger, his wife, and two others are accused of selling human remains.

Federal prosecutors say they've busted a nationwide ring trafficking in stolen human remains. According to indictments from the Department of Justice, four people were charged with conspiracy and moving stolen goods across state lines.

Between 2018 and 2022, Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge stole body parts from corpses donated to the school's anatomical gift program, prosecutors say. He took the remains from Harvard Medical School's Boston campus to his home in New Hampshire, the indictment says.

There, prosecutors say Lodge and his wife Denise sold the parts to Katrina Maclean and Joshua Taylor, arranging the deals through texts and social media.

"Some crimes defy understanding," said United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam in a statement. "The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human."

One defendant, Katrina Maclean — from historically spooky Salem, Massachusetts, — operated a doll shop called "Kat's Creepy Creations."

On the store's Instagram page, she posted a picture of one her dolls, along with the caption: "Throwback to the set of Hubie Halloween. This doll has been sold and yes that is a real human skull. If you're in the market for human bones hit me up!"

Prosecutors say that sometimes Lodge let Maclean and Taylor into the morgue to pick out what they wanted.

"The defendants violated the trust of the deceased and their families all in the name of greed," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire in a statement. "While today's charges cannot undo the unfathomable pain this heinous crime has caused, the FBI will continue to work tirelessly to see that justice is served."

If convicted, the defendants each face up to 15 years in prison, supervised release, and fines. The FBI, US Postal Inspection Service, and local police investigated the case together. More charges could be coming, they say.



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