Bloomsburg man accused of buying, reselling stolen human remains
SCRANTON – A Columbia County man is one of six people charged in connection with the trafficking of human remains swiped from Harvard Medical School and a mortuary in Arkansas.
Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, is facing federal charges in connection with the theft, purchase, and resale of stolen organs and parts of cadavers, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Others charged include Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Massachusetts, Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, Denise Lodge, 63, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minnesota, and Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was previously indicted in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
“Some crimes defy understanding,” said United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam. “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.”
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the federal government alleges that a nationwide network of individuals bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and an Arkansas mortuary.
The charges allege that from 2018 through 2022, Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, Boston, stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations.
Lodge at times transported stolen remains from Boston to his residence in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Denise Lodge, sold the remains to Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others, making arrangements via cellular telephone and social media websites.
At times, Cedric Lodge allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase. On some occasions, Taylor transported stolen remains back to Pennsylvania. On other occasions, the Lodges shipped stolen remains to Taylor and others out of state.
Maclean and Taylor resold the stolen remains for profit, including to Pauley. Pauley also purchased stolen human remains from Candace Chapman Scott, who stole remains from her employer, a Little Rock, Arkansas mortuary and crematorium.
Scott stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families.
Scott sold the stolen remains to Pauley and shipped them to Pauley in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Pauley sold many of the stolen remains he purchased to other individuals, including Matthew Lampi. Lampi and Pauley bought and sold from each other over an extended period of time and exchanged over $100,000 in online payments.
“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. “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.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the East Pennsboro Township Police Department, and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni is prosecuting the case.
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