In October 2021, a woman in the US state of Arkansas allegedly typed out a simple Facebook message: "Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?"
The woman was a staffer at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, and according to prosecutors, the message was sent to an antique dealer in Pennsylvania.
Warning: This story contains content that may be upsetting for some readers.
A search of his home would later uncover multiple buckets containing human remains, including pieces of brain, heart, livers, skin and lungs.
Investigators say the pair were part of an underground community spanning multiple states across the US, made up of both morgue staff and collectors willing to pay top dollar for human remains.
Here's how it unfolded.
The 'oddities' dealers and the 'tanned human skin'
Several months before the woman in Arkansas allegedly contacted him, investigators say self-described "preservation specialist" Jeremy Pauley received a shipment of human skin in the mail.
Pauley, 42, is a collector of "medical antiquities" and "tribal artefacts" who offered preservation restoration services.
"Specimens that are graciously donated to science deserve the upmost [sic] respect and care — long after their immediate use in the scientific field," he wrote on his website.
"Every body donated to science deserves to be used for its intended purpose, even if that requires months of conservative efforts to do so."
Somewhere around June or July, prosecutors say, Pauley was asked to tan the skin allegedly sent to him by Katrina Maclean.
Ms Maclean was herself an "oddities" dealer, running her business, Kat's Creepy Creations, out of Peabody, Massachusetts.
"[She] engaged his services to tan the skin to create leather," says a grand jury indictment.
"On or about July 31, 2021, Pauley sent a photograph of the leather and Maclean agreed to provide Pauley with human skin in lieu of monetary payment.
[pauley guilty] "On or about August 15, 2021, Jeremy Pauley shipped the tanned human skin from the Middle District of Pennsylvania to Katrina Maclean in Massachusetts."
A month later, Ms Maclean "shipped human skin from Massachusetts [to Pauley] in payment for his services".
"A few days later, Maclean contacted Pauley to confirm the shipment arrived because she 'wanted to make sure it got to you and I don't expect agents at my door'."
Alleged crimes 'strike at the very essence of what makes us human'
Pauley and Ms Maclean were two of several people linked by investigators to Cedric Lodge — the manager of Harvard University's morgue.
Mr Lodge, 55, had been hired by the university in 1995 and managed the morgue as part of its Anatomical Gift Program, which allows people to donate their bodies to medical research.
Individuals "can donate their bodies to Harvard Medical School to advance medical education and research following their death", according to the Harvard Medical School (HMS) website.
"Each year, these generous donations support the teaching of medical and dental students, postgraduate physicians and students in related disciplines."
Officials alleged Mr Lodge did not begin dealing in stolen human remains until 2018.
Mr Lodge allegedly stole "dissected portions" of donated cadavers and transported them to his home.
According to the indictment, Mr Lodge and his wife, Denise Lodge, allegedly communicated with Ms Maclean and others via social media and over the phone to sell stolen remains.
"At times, Cedric Lodge used his access to the morgue to allow Katrina Maclean, Joshua Taylor, and others to enter the morgue and choose what remains to purchase," the document said.
"After [entering] Cedric Lodge, Katrina Maclean, or Joshua Taylor would remove the stolen remains and transport them elsewhere."
Throughout 2018 and 2019 Denise Lodge allegedly sent stolen remains from Manchester, New Hampshire to Montgomery, Pennsylvania.
Mr Taylor, 46, and Mathew Lampi, 52, were also charged as part of the group.
"[From 2018 to 2021] Joshua Taylor transferred 39 electronic payments ... totalling $37,355.56 in payment for human remains stolen by Cedric Lodge," the indictment said.
"For example, on May 19, 2019, Taylor sent Denise Lodge $1,000 with a memo that read 'head number 7'. On November 20, 2020, Taylor sent Denise Lodge $200 with a memo that read, 'braiiiiiins'."
Lampi, the owner of a tattoo parlour, and Denise Lodge have both since pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
United States Attorney Gerard M Karam said the alleged offences "defy understanding".
"The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human," he said.
"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."
'Possible human body parts being sold on Facebook'
Candice Chapman Scott, the former mortuary worker investigators say sent Pauley the Facebook message, is also facing charges for allegedly stealing "parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated".
"Many of [the remains] had been donated to and used for research and education purposes by an area medical school," the US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania said.
Also allegedly stolen were "the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families".
Ms Scott has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial.
Over the nine months since the initial message, Ms Scott allegedly sent Pauley an ear, an arm, lungs livers, kidneys, hands, penises, breasts, fetuses, skulls, skin and a human head.
In exchange, according to NPR, Pauley allegedly sent her more than $US10,000 ($15,504) via 16 separate PayPal transfers.
On June 14, 2022, police received "a complaint of possible human body parts being sold on Facebook", a press release from the Cumberland County District Attorney's office announced.
"On or about July 8, 2022, East Pennsboro Township Police were called to the N. Enola Drive home for a report of possible human remains.
"The caller reported finding possible human remains in the basement of the residence contained inside of several five-gallon buckets.
"The caller reported finding 'human organs' and 'human skin' inside of those buckets."
The district attorney's statement said a forensic pathologist had analysed the remains and found "human brains, heart, livers, skin and lungs".
District Attorney Seán M McCormack said: "This is one of the most bizarre investigations I have encountered in my thirty-three years as a prosecutor.
"Just when I think I have seen it all, a case like this comes around.”
Pauley has since pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property for his role in the alleged network.
He has also pleaded guilty to state charges of abuse of a court.
Families left devastated and searching for answers
Nick Pichowicz was a deputy sheriff in New Hampshire. His wife of 66 years, Joan, was a police officer.
Both donated their bodies to science.
When details emerged about Mr Lodge's alleged involvement, the Pichowiczs' daughters said they called Harvard in a desperate attempt to find out if their parents had been affected.
"It's like a dream, you know what I mean? It's like not real, but it is real," daughter Paula Peltonovich told local media.
Ms Peltonovich and her sister, Darlene Lynch, were told parts of their father's remains were among those stolen.
"My concern is getting my mom back," Ms Peltonovich said.
"I don't want them to touch my mom. I mean, can you blame me? I mean, seriously, it's just the whole thing's wrong."
[yt react] HMS has said it will likely never know for certain which donor families it listed as "potentially impacted" were affected by the alleged offenders.
The same day officials announced six people had been charged, HMS sent letters to the families of all those who had donated their bodies to the Anatomical Gift Program.
"We have been working with information supplied by federal authorities and examining our records, particularly the logs showing when donor remains were sent to be cremated and when Lodge was on campus, to try to determine which donors may have been impacted," faculty of medicine dean George Q Daley wrote.
"These alleged criminal acts are morally reprehensible and inconsistent with the standards that Harvard Medical School, our anatomical donors, and their loved ones expect and deserve.
"As an HMS student myself, I learned anatomy in the same dissection laboratory used today.
"Learning anatomy transforms students from pre-meds to physician-healers; it is an experience that changes your heart and soul, forever."
HMS has also established a support centre and 24-hour information line for those affected.
Earlier this year a Massachusetts Superior Court judge dismissed a class action lawsuit filed against the university by the families.
The families — a total of 47 relatives filing 12 consolidated lawsuits — had initially argued Harvard had failed to properly oversee the morgue.
The judge ruled Harvard had made "a good faith attempt" to comply with its legal requirements.
No other university staffers have been implicated in the alleged offences. Lawyers representing the families have said they plan to appeal.
