Harvard morgue manager charged with taking, selling remains
- Cedric Lodge was charged with stealing and selling human remains
- The body parts were stolen from cadavers donated to Harvard Medical School
- Others involved with the scheme allegedly resold parts to the public
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(NewsNation) — Bodies donated to science were dissected and sold as part of a scheme allegedly involving a manager at Harvard University’s morgue.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said “some crimes defy understanding,” and that statement rings true when it comes to a multi-year, multi-state operation that included the theft, sale and transportation of human remains. And it all started in Harvard University’s morgue.
Former Harvard morgue manager Cedric Lodge, his wife and five others have been charged in connection with the alleged scheme. Prosecutors say from 2018 to March of 2023, Lodge stole body parts from cadavers and dissected the bodies before their scheduled cremation.
The bodies had been donated to Harvard’s medical school in the name of science. The parts Lodge allegedly stole from those corpses included heads, brains, skin and bones.
According to the indictment, Lodge even allowed buyers to come to the morgue and choose which body parts they wanted. On other occasions, he shipped the remains to purchasers.
Payments for the shipments were tracked on PayPal, with memos that read “head number seven” and “brains.” Some of the payments are for a couple hundred dollars, while other buyers spent $40,000 over months-long periods of time buying remains. According to prosecutors, some buyers also resold the body parts.
On Wednesday, Lodge, his wife and three others were indicted on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. Two other people were previously charged in connection to the alleged crimes,
In response, Harvard issued a lengthy statement that read, in part, “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.”
If convicted, Lodge and his wife could face up to 15 years in prison.
Harvard has set up a resource page for donor families and sent letters to next of kin, but some people may not be aware this happened to the bodies of their family members.
