An American woman has described the moment her world shattered upon learning her father's body, which he had selflessly donated to medical science, was discovered dismembered in a warehouse alongside over 100 other cadavers.
A Final Selfless Act Betrayed
In 2009, as 56-year-old Harrold Dillard spent his final month in hospice care battling cancer, he was approached by a company named BioCare. They asked if he would consider donating his remains so doctors could practice knee replacement surgery. His daughter, Farrah Fasold, recalled how "his eyes lit up" at the idea, viewing it as a way to lessen his family's burden and perform one last selfless act.
The family agreed, reassured that any unused parts would be cremated and his ashes returned to them at no cost. When Mr Dillard passed away on Christmas Eve 2009, his body was collected from the hospice within hours. The family believed they were honouring his wishes for a dignified contribution to medical advancement.
The Horrific Discovery
Months later, Farrah received a devastating phone call from police. They had discovered her father's head in a storage facility. She became "completely hysterical," stating they would "never have signed up if they had ever said anything about selling body parts." This was not what her father wanted.
Investigators revealed the grim details: the bodies had been dismembered with a coarse instrument like a chainsaw. They believed Mr Dillard's remains had been taken by a company that acquires cadavers, uses what it needs, and sells the rest for profit instead of cremating them as promised. Farrah is convinced her father's body was brutally mutilated and treated without the respect he was guaranteed.
"I would close my eyes at night and see huge red tubs filled with body parts. I had insomnia. I wasn't sleeping," she told the BBC, describing the severe trauma inflicted by the revelation.
The Unregulated World of 'Body Brokering'
This practice is known as "body brokering," with companies involved often calling themselves "non-transplant tissue banks." While many legitimate institutions accept human remains for science, firms like the one implicated in this case act as unethical middlemen. They secure agreements with individuals to take their bodies, only to sell them on in a commercial trade.
This shadowy industry operates distinctly from the closely regulated organ and tissue transplant sector. While selling organs for transplant is illegal, no federal law in the United States governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for research or education. Few states provide meaningful oversight, allowing almost anyone, regardless of qualification, to dissect and sell human remains.
Angela McArthur, who directs the body donation programme at the University of Minnesota Medical School, told Reuters: "The current state of affairs is a free-for-all. We are seeing similar problems to what we saw with grave-robbers centuries ago."
Tragically, thousands of Americans donate their bodies each year believing they are aiding science, only to unwittingly become raw material in a sprawling, poorly regulated national market. For Farrah Fasold and her family, a gesture of ultimate generosity was transformed into a nightmare of commerce and disrespect.
