Post by JoannaL on Jul 26, 2019 17:35:51 GMT -5
Small Woman's Head Sewn on Male Torso in 'Frankenstein Manner'
Interested in a human body minus shoulders and head? The going price is $2,900. A torso with head attached will set you back $2,400. A spine, on the other hand, is only $950, or you can order an entire leg for $1,100. Smaller parts go for much less: A foot is a mere $450, a knee, $375, and a pelvis, $400.
Unfortunately, these are 2013 prices, so the costs will likely have increased and you’ll have to find another source because the Biological Resource Center (above) at 2602 S. 24th Street in Phoenix is no longer in business.
When the FBI raided the facility in January 2014, in what was part of a nationwide criminal investigation, they discovered a mishmash of body parts: a head sewn onto a another body, a bucket of limbs and a cooler filled with penises and other abominations. The Biological Resource Center (BRC) accepted bodies in exchange for free pickup plus cremation of the parts that weren’t sold.
Arizona is ideal for the body-parts industry because the practice isn’t regulated. At least four body donation concerns are operating in Arizona in addition to a non-profit cryonics company that freezes people after they die with the intent of one day bringing them back to life.
During the FBI raid, Special Agent Mark Cwynar stumbled upon “various unsettling scenes” and the agent’s grisly eyewitness account was recently revealed in a civil lawsuit against the business and its owner, the appropriately-named Stephen Gore, filed in the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona. Thirty-three plaintiffs sued BRC alleging the remains of family members were obtained through “false statements,” that body parts were being sold for profit to various middlemen and weren’t stored, treated or disposed of with dignity or respect.
Reacting to the BRC case, in 2017, Arizona passed a law requiring such business establishments obtain a license to operate. However, the law has not yet been implemented or enforced.
All four body donation companies known to be operating in Arizona are accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks – BRC wasn’t.
Many of the body parts Cwynar saw were piled on top of each other without any apparent identification. In addition to a “cooler filled with male genitalia,” Cwynar testified he observed a male torso on which the head of small woman had been sewn, in a “Frankenstein manner,” hanging on the wall. Other horrors included large male torsos minus limbs and genitals; buckets and coolers filled with various body parts, including buckets of heads, arms and legs; and steel freezers containing frozen body parts.
Troy Harp is one of the 33 victims. “This is a horror story, it’s just unbelievable,” he said. “This story is unbelievable.” Harp donated his mother and grandmother to BRC in 2012 and 2013, with the understanding their bodies would be used for scientific purposes. “Cancer and leukemia, and whatever else, using sample cells, that’s what I was told,” he added.
But that’s not what happened. Shortly after the FBI raid, what were purported to be the ashes of Harp’s mother showed up on his doorstep, delivered by mail, but he has doubts they are her remains. His mother and grandmother wanted their bodies to be used for medical research, however, Harp isn’t sure they ever made it out of the BRC building. When asked if he believes he will ever have closure, he replied, “No, this is open and I don’t think I ever will.”
Following the raid, BRC owner Stephen Gore, who has nothing more than a high school education, admitted in a written statement: “I could have been more open about the process of donation on the brochure we put in public view. When deciding which donors could be eligible to donate, I should have hired a medical doctor rather than relying on medical knowledge from books or the internet.” He pled guilty to illegal control of an enterprise and was sentenced to a year’s deferred jail time and four years probation.
But this isn’t enough for Harp who wants to see more federal regulation of such facilities.
Gore hasn’t replied to requests for comment.
The case is set for trial October 21, 2019.
Sources: WNEP, July 26, 2019; Joshua Espinoza, Complex, July 25, 2019; and Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, July 19, 2019.