A Pennsylvania man was charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and different costs after police say he allegedly tried to purchase stolen human stays from an Arkansas lady for attainable resale on Facebook.
A spokeswoman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock confirmed that the stays have been to be donated to UAMS’s facility. UAMS spokeswoman Leslie Taylor mentioned they have been as an alternative stolen from Arkansas Central Mortuary Services in Little Rock by a feminine mortuary worker and offered, including that there’s an open federal investigation.
“We are very respectful of those who donate their bodies, and we are appalled that such a thing could happen,” Taylor mentioned. A consultant of the mortuary hung up on a reporter who reached out for remark Thursday.
FBI Little Rock spokesman Conor Hagan mentioned the workplace was conscious of the Pennsylvania incident “but will not comment on ongoing investigations.” No costs had been filed as of Thursday in opposition to the Arkansas lady.
East Pennsboro Township Police in Pennsylvania introduced the arrest of and costs in opposition to 40-year-old Jeremy Lee Pauley, of Enola, Pennsylvania. Pauley had been arrested on July 22 and had an preliminary court docket look Thursday. Calls to an lawyer representing Pauley weren’t returned late Thursday.
Pauley was launched on $50,000 bond, in line with court docket information. On a Facebook web page below his identify, Pauley has posted photos of baggage and stacks of femurs, one captioned, “Picked up more medical bones to sort through.”
The Facebook web page he makes use of to market his physique components known as “The Grand Wunderkammer,” “Vendors of the odd and unusual, museum exhibits, guest lectures, live entertainment, and so much more! Strange, curious, and unique in every way possible!” It additionally gives a hyperlink to his web site.
“I think I’ve seen it all, and then something like this comes around,” mentioned Sean McCormack, district lawyer for Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, the place Pauley was charged. “The question we had to answer was, Is the sale of body parts or bones and remains illegal … or legal? Some of it, to our surprise, was legal. And as the investigation went on, it became clear there was illegal activity going on as well.”
Pauley, who described himself as a collector of what he referred to as “oddities,” together with human physique components, mentioned the stays have been acquired legally when first contacted by police, in line with a police affidavit.
However, after a second tip about newer stays in Pauley’s residence, investigators returned to the home to seek out newer purchases. Police discovered three five-gallon buckets containing assorted physique components— together with of youngsters— and federal and state regulation enforcement brokers intercepted packages addressed to Pauley from the Arkansas lady that contained physique components.
Pauley advised investigators that he supposed to resell the physique components, in line with the affidavit. Investigators allege that Pauley organized to pay the Arkansas lady $4,000 for the physique components by way of Facebook Messenger.
Facebook didn’t reply to messages looking for feedback on Pauley’s pages. However, its group requirements prohibit human exploitation and explicitly prohibit promoting physique components by way of its business insurance policies and promoting insurance policies.
