A woman, Denise Lodge, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge for her involvement in shipping stolen human body parts, including hands, feet, and heads, to buyers. Lodge, 64, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, admitted to the crime in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The scheme involved a network of individuals who bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard and a mortuary in Arkansas.
According to prosecutors, Lodge facilitated online sales of various body parts between 2018 and March 2020, including hands, feet, spines, skulls, dissected faces, and heads. The stolen cadaver parts were taken without authorization from Harvard Medical School between 2018 and early 2023. Authorities also arrested Jeremy Pauley of Thompson, Pennsylvania, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Denise Lodge’s attorney, Hope Lefeber, explained in an interview that Lodge’s husband spearheaded the criminal activity, and she was complicit. Lefeber argued that while the actions were morally wrong, no one suffered financial losses, framing the issue as more of a moral and ethical dilemma than a criminal case.
Harvard Medical School typically uses donated bodies for educational and research purposes, cremating them once they are no longer needed. The ashes are then either returned to the donor’s family or interred in a cemetery.