A Pennsylvania man was accused of buying stolen body parts from a morgue to resell on Facebook, police said.
Jeremy Pauley, 40, of Enola, was accused of body abuse, receiving stolen goods and trafficking in the proceeds of illegal activities.
Investigators say Pauley arranged to pay a woman in Arkansas $ 4,000 (£ 3,382) for the body parts in an attempt to sell them for profit.
Pauley told investigators he intended to resell the body parts on Facebook, according to a police affidavit.
Facebook’s community standards prohibit human exploitation and explicitly prohibit the sale of body parts through its marketing and advertising policies.
It was also discovered that the remains in question had been donated to the Arkansas University for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, with a spokesperson for the institute saying they were stolen after being sent to a mortuary for cremation. .
“We are very respectful of those who donate their bodies and we are shocked that such a thing could happen,” said spokeswoman Leslie Taylor.
Following a police raid on Pauley’s home, investigators initially found what they described as older human remains, including complete skeletons that they determined were obtained legally.
However, after a second tip about the more recent remains in his home, investigators claim they have returned home to find more recent purchases.
Police found skeletons and several buckets of assorted body parts, including two brains, human skin, a heart, livers, lungs and even a child’s jaw with teeth, according to a criminal complaint.
Body modification artist
Seen by the New York Post, Pauley had posted bags of teeth, ribs, femurs and other bones online, offering to sell them to those willing to buy.
Pauley is a body modification artist, whose head is covered in tattoos and metal spikes, and has previously had photos on his (now deleted) social media pages of human remains he has collected.
Sean McCormack, District Attorney for Cumberland County, where Pauley was charged on Friday, said, “I think I saw everything, and then something like this came along.
“The question we had to answer was: ‘Does the sale of body parts or bones remain illegal … or legal?’
“Some, to our surprise, were legal. And as the investigation went on, it became clear that there was also illegal activity going on.”
