# Why do people buy body parts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623 "2023-06-16T12:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/1 "2023-06-16T12:36:14Z")
Yeah, this is gruesome. A local guy was arrested for buying body parts from a morgue in PA, apparently to resell or something. [The guy at the morgue](https://www.wgal.com/article/new-charges-filed-for-enola-man-indicted-for-stolen-body-parts-case-pennsylvania/44204027) where he got them looks like something out of a horror movie, and would have people come in and browse the cadavers. What the hell do people do with this stuff? Or do I really not want to know? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/2 "2023-06-16T13:28:38Z")
Some buy them for the goth gruesome factor. THere are several businesses that buy and sell weird and death related materials. [https://www.thestrangeandunusual.com/](https://www.thestrangeandunusual.com/) and having human parts is an extra bonus. I’m assuming these people think human parts they buy and sell are legally done so. Also there’s a medical/scientific market. It wasn’t that long ago where it was commonplace to purchase full real skeletons sourced from India for school biology labs. There are probably businesses who are testing products and need real tissues for sample testing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/3 "2023-06-16T13:49:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [The guy at the morgue](https://www.wgal.com/article/new-charges-filed-for-enola-man-indicted-for-stolen-body-parts-case-pennsylvania/44204027) where he got them looks like something out of a horror movie In residency we had a diener (person who does initial dissection during autopsies and sews up the body afterwards) who made that guy look quite normal. His name was Don, so naturally he became known as “Don of the Dead”. > [@](#): > > What the hell do people do with this stuff? Or do I really not want to know? There are patients who collect their body parts after surgery, for keepsakes or to bury in the yard (in the case of one patient I know of who had a hysterectomy). But that is far different from a person who keeps “three five-gallon buckets filled with various human remains” in their home. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/4 "2023-06-16T13:56:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [The guy at the morgue](https://www.wgal.com/article/new-charges-filed-for-enola-man-indicted-for-stolen-body-parts-case-pennsylvania/44204027) where he got them looks like something out of a horror movie, - It looks like some of the parts are stuck to his face. It could be some prospective customers are applying for a competitive job or school and wants to get a leg up. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/5 "2023-06-16T14:01:46Z")
If I ever need to buy a raccoon penis bone, I’m set. And yeah, we had a real human skeleton in high school biology class, and a frequent topic of conversation was where it had come from, who that person had been and so forth. It was just creepy enough to get a bunch of high school boys to be slightly pensive about how it came to be in our biology classroom. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/6 "2023-06-16T14:06:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [The guy at the morgue](https://www.wgal.com/article/new-charges-filed-for-enola-man-indicted-for-stolen-body-parts-case-pennsylvania/44204027) where he got them looks like something out of a horror movie The guy in the mugshot is the “Enola man” arrested for buying them. They’re not showing you a picture of the guy at the morgue. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/7 "2023-06-16T14:57:31Z")
Yes. The article says he was buying skin to make leather. The bodies came from a cadaver lab, so people who donated their bodies for dissection by medical students. The parts were sold after the students were done with the bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/8 "2023-06-16T16:03:42Z")
Maybe not everybody can get into Harvard Arts. But parts of every body can get out? I don’t know. But if you say it’s an aphrodisiac you can probably find some buyer. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/9 "2023-06-16T16:05:44Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It could be some prospective customers are applying for a competitive job or school and wants to get a leg up. Oh no you didn’t. . . ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/10 "2023-06-16T16:06:16Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > The guy in the mugshot is the “Enola man” arrested for buying them. They’re not showing you a picture of the guy at the morgue. Thanks, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/11 "2023-06-16T17:13:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@running\_coach](#): > > > > It could be some prospective customers are applying for a competitive job or school and wants to get a leg up. > > Oh no you didn’t. . . - Oh, yes I did. Though I was expecting someone to give me a hand. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/12 "2023-06-16T17:35:04Z")
eye see what you did there ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/13 "2023-06-16T17:39:45Z")
\< Starts singing “Footloose”. \> ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/14 "2023-06-16T17:47:04Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Though I was expecting someone to give me a hand. Wouldn’t you give your hand to a friend? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/15 "2023-06-16T18:24:24Z")
Depends on my gut feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/16 "2023-06-16T18:41:12Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > What the hell do people do with this stuff? And where do they get the money? Those places cost an arm and a leg. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/17 "2023-06-16T19:17:59Z")
So what I’m reading is that selling viscera might be a good way for me to make money if you have the stomach for it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/18 "2023-06-16T19:29:02Z")
Good thing you didn’t end your sentence like this: ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/19 "2023-06-16T19:33:58Z")
After a resection, you could change it to a ; ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623/20 "2023-06-16T19:35:46Z")
So when I first read this story (the manager of the Havard medical school morgue was the guy selling the parts!) I assumed there was some kind of scientific or medical use. But apparently not according to this [article](https://whdh.com/news/some-crimes-defy-understanding-former-harvard-medical-school-morgue-employee-others-charged-for-selling-stolen-body-parts/), it was just someone making “Creepy Creations” WTF! > While the Lodge home in New Hampshire was searched back in March, FBI agents also descended upon [Maclean’s home in Salem that same month](https://whdh.com/news/fbi-conducts-searches-in-salem-peabody-in-connection-with-ongoing-federal-investigation/), as well as her business “Kat’s Creepy Creations” in Peabody. > > An Instagram page believed to be the businesses’ at the time described it is a place full of “creepy dolls, oddities and bone art.” According to the indictment, the business was where Maclean stored and sold the stolen body parts. > > Maclean showcased human skulls and vertebrae on her social media pages. She said in captions that the bones pictured were real human bones, although it is unclear if any were from the Harvard morgue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-body-parts/985623.md?page=2)