MA - FBI searches 'Creepy Creations' Shop, trafficking body parts stolen from Harvard’s school morgue, Mar 2023 *arrests*

[sds71]

Personnel from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were on scene in Salem and Peabody Tuesday morning, conducting searches in connection with what an FBI spokesperson described as an “ongoing federal investigation.”

The FBI has said there is no threat to the public after agents searched a home in Salem and a business in Peabody belonging to the same woman.

The woman, Katrina Maclean, said that while she can’t go into detail about the investigation, she said she wants the public to know, “there’s no violence — no crime.”

Kat's Creepy Creations describes itself as art that will, "shock the mind and shake the soul."

The shop's Instagram account says it specializes in "creepy dolls, oddities, and bone art," with posts including a real human skull and a case of 11 human vertebrae. The caption of one of the posts says, "If you're in the market for human bones hit me up."

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FBI conducts searches in Salem, Peabody in connection with ‘ongoing federal investigation’ - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

SALEM, MASS. (WHDH) - Personnel from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were on scene in Salem and Peabody Tuesday morning, conducting searches<a class="excerpt-read-more"...

whdh.com

FBI searches Peabody 'creepy doll' business and owner's home in Salem

The FBI would not say why it was searching "Kat's Creepy Creations" in Peabody or the owner's home in Salem.

www.cbsnews.com

FBI Searches 'Creepy Creations' Shop At Peabody Mills 58

Mills 58 Peabody called the search of Kat's Creepy Creations "an isolated incident" not related to other shops in the building.

patch.com

 

[DrQ]

OK IMHO I don't mean to sound negative BUT every time I hear LE, CDC, DHS, NSA, etc. say "I can't talk about the situation and want the public to know there is no violence-no crime, I am IMMEDIATELY suspicious! So then, where is Kat of the Creepy Creations actually getting these donations for her sinister art? The only thing worse for me is a clown carrying sunflowers and a doll. Add a creepy Kat BONE doll and they would have to commit me. Yikes!

 

[AliceInPain]

I think it's because I've followed too many missing person cases I don't feel comfortable with these things at all. Makes me wonder if one of the bones or skulls belong to someone listed on the Charley Project.
How can an independent buyer even verify where the remains are from?
There was a guy a few years ago who found a skull in the woods, he took it home and placed it on his mantelpiece, took a picture and posted it online. Does anyone remember him?

 

[sds71]

I think it's because I've followed too many missing person cases I don't feel comfortable with these things at all. Makes me wonder if one of the bones or skulls belong to someone listed on the Charley Project.
How can an independent buyer even verify where the remains are from?
There was a guy a few years ago who found a skull in the woods, he took it home and placed it on his mantelpiece, took a picture and posted it online. Does anyone remember him?

Skull in the woods: Authorities now know the dead man's name, but how he got there remains a mystery

Junior McCann's skull was found years after he disappeared in 2012. What happened to him remains a mystery.

www.wbir.com

 

[AliceInPain]

Skull in the woods: Authorities now know the dead man's name, but how he got there remains a mystery

Junior McCann's skull was found years after he disappeared in 2012. What happened to him remains a mystery.

www.wbir.com

Whoah thank you so much!
I'd totally forgotten the detail about the sunglasses
Glad someone took notice and he was identified, poor guy =(

 

[PromotedPawn]

Fascinating. I wonder what was found/suspected.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The first thing that came to mind was the Salem Witch Trials. EEEKKKKK!!!

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

You can buy real human bones and skulls online. I don't know where they come from, but as the sellers seem to be legitimate businesses, I doubt any laws are being broken.
Back when I was teaching myself to draw and paint I was always haunting eBay looking for replicas, and used to see real ones there, too, until they made it against their TOS.

Shop The Bone Room

The Bone Room is a natural history retail store that specializes in real human and animal skulls and skeletons, genuine fossils, quality bone and fossil cast replicas, framed insects, and all manner of weird and wonderful things.

www.boneroom.com

Skulls Unlimited: World Leader in Real and Replica Skulls & Skeletons

Skulls Unlimited is the world's leading supplier of the most diverse selection of legally-obtained animal skulls and replicas. Real animal and human skulls for sale to buy online to professional education facilities and bone collector hobbyists. We also carry entomology, cryptology, anthropology...

www.skullsunlimited.com

Real Human Bones for Sale | JonsBones

JonsBones carries a wide selection of real human skulls, long bones, articulations, flat bones, and literature. JonsBones is the leading provider of real human bones — all responsibly sourced.

www.jonsbones.com

 

[LordYato]

You can buy real human bones and skulls online. I don't know where they come from, but as the sellers seem to be legitimate businesses, I doubt any laws are being broken.
Back when I was teaching myself to draw and paint I was always haunting eBay looking for replicas, and used to see real ones there, too, until they made it against their TOS.

One note about buying bones online; in some states it actually IS illegal. It also can be illegal if it was stolen from a grave (destruction of a corpse/desecration of remains/buying or selling of stolen property) or similar. It seems to be somewhat ambiguous.

This feels like a weird first post but I was curious if it was really legal.

I too would be concerned about the providence.<modsnip - no link>

 

[LordYato]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/07/17/corpse-selling-stealing-were-once-integral-medical-training/

Corpses have been stolen, bought and sold for a long time under the guise of furthering medical research.

edit: typo

 

[Erutan]

For some odd reason I assumed it was illegal to be in the possession of human bones, even if it's not a full skeleton ?
Apparently not.

 

[airportwoman]

For some odd reason I assumed it was illegal to be in the possession of human bones, even if it's not a full skeleton ?
Apparently not.

Maybe in some areas it is, but it also depends on how and where they were obtained.

 

[AmberStorm]

It's legal in every state to buy or possess human bones. Many religions use them, Most Universities have classes that include a full body of bones, and you can buy them online easy! Many people have/will donate to these places, for a small amount of money and knowing that your doing something useful for science.

 

[AmberStorm]

One note about buying bones online; in some states it actually IS illegal. It also can be illegal if it was stolen from a grave (destruction of a corpse/desecration of remains/buying or selling of stolen property) or similar. It seems to be somewhat ambiguous.

This feels like a weird first post but I was curious if it was really legal.

I too would be concerned about the providence.<modsnip - no link>

It's not illegal in any state, as long as it's a legit sale

 

[Springrain]

Anyone know what the regulations are for a legit sale of human bones in the US?

 

[PromotedPawn]

Anyone know what the regulations are for a legit sale of human bones in the US?

I don't know but a quick Google search takes me to many legitimate sites.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

I don't know but a quick Google search takes me to many legitimate sites.

Here's a short little article about it. I guess if I wanted to sell bones, I'd consult a lawyer first.
After that, I guess searching for wholesale distributors of human bones would be the next logical step.
If that didn't work I s'pose I'd call someone in the funeral industry or a medical school.
Honestly, I think the "bone clones" are just as good for pretty much any purpose outside of the medical field.

 

[sds71]

Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge accused of selling stolen body parts

Cedric Lodge, the manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School, has been accused of selling stolen body parts.

www.cbsnews.com

‘Some crimes defy understanding’: Former Harvard Medical School morgue employee, others charged for selling stolen body parts - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

Several people, including a former morgue employee at Harvard Medical School, are facing federal charges for allegedly taking part in the sale and transportation of<a class="excerpt-read-more"...

whdh.com

According to a federal indictment out of Pennsylvania, Lodge, 55, stole dissected portions of human cadavers, took them to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire and then sold them online.

Lodge's 63-year-old wife Denise and two alleged buyers, 44-year-old Katrina MacLean of Salem and 46-year-old Joshua Taylor of West Lawn, Pennsylvania were also charged in the indictment released Wednesday.

MacLean owns a store in Peabody called "Kat's Creepy Creations." Back in March, the FBI searched the store and MacLean's home in Salem, Massachusetts.

https://whdh.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/06/CR.-NO.-4.23-CR-159-US-V.-CEDRIC-LODGE-KATRINA-MACLEAN-JOSHUA-TAYLOR-AND-DENISE-LODGE.pdf

 

[lilacstorm]

You can buy real human bones and skulls online. I don't know where they come from, but as the sellers seem to be legitimate businesses, I doubt any laws are being broken.

I'm skeptical about how remains are sourced.

 

[Erutan]

I'm skeptical about how remains are sourced.

Indeed .....