A Pennsylvania man has been arrested after he attempted to buy human remains that were destined to be donated the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, reports say.
“On June 14th, 2022, the East Pennsboro Township Police received a call for suspicious activity located in the 200 block of N. Enola Rd, Enola,” East Pennsboro TWP PD wrote in a news release. “An investigation was conducted and determined that a Jeremy Pauley of Enola was purchasing human body parts from a female in Arkansas. The human remains were located in Enola, Arkansas and Scranton.”
“Those human remains were being sold on Facebook for monetary gain. Pauley was arrested and released on $50,000 dollars unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled before MDJ Sanderson. The cooperative investigation was conducted by the East Pennsboro Township Police, FBI Harrisburg, FBI Scranton, FBI Arkansas, Arkansas State Police, Cumberland County Coroners office, Cumberland County Forensics Division, Bloomsburg Police Department, United States Postal Service and the Pennsylvania State Police.”
“I think I’ve seen it all, and then something like this comes around,” Sean McCormack, district attorney for Cumberland County said. “The question we had to answer was, Is the sale of body parts or bones and remains illegal … or legal? Some of it, to our surprise, was legal. And as the investigation went on, it became clear there was illegal activity going on as well.”
The Associated Press reported: Pauley, who described himself as a collector of what he called “oddities,” including human body parts, said the remains were acquired legally when first contacted by police, according to a police affidavit. Police initially found what they described as older human remains including full skeletons that they determined were legally obtained.
However, after a second tip about newer remains in Pauley’s home, investigators returned to the house to find more recent purchases. Police found three five-gallon buckets containing assorted body parts— including of children— and federal and state law enforcement agents intercepted packages addressed to Pauley from the Arkansas woman that contained body parts.
Pauley told investigators that he intended to resell the body parts, according to the affidavit. Investigators allege that Pauley arranged to pay the Arkansas woman $4,000 for the body parts through Facebook Messenger.
News by Breaking911
