Arkansas Woman Allegedly Sold 20 Boxes Of Stolen Body Parts Worth $11,000

A former mortuary worker in Arkansas was indicted on charges that she sold about 20 boxes of stolen body parts from medical school cadavers to a man in Pennsylvania for nearly $11,000.

In an April 5 indictment unsealed Friday in a federal court in Little Rock, the accused, identified as Candace Chapman Scott, 36, pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, and interstate transportation of stolen property.

The indictment alleged that Scott set up the transactions with a man she met through a Facebook group about "oddities," according to a report by the Associated Press.

The man accused of buying the stolen body parts was not named in the indictment, but separate charges in Pennsylvania identified him as Jeremy Lee Pauley, of Enola, Pennsylvania.

It alleged that Scott, who was working at the Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, approached Pauley in October 2021 and offered to sell him cadaver remains from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences that the mortuary was supposed to cremate.

"Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?" Scott was alleged to have written to Pauley in a Facebook message.

Over the next nine months, Scott allegedly sold Pauley fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other body parts, collecting a total of $10,975 in 16 separate PayPal transfers.

Federal prosecutors advocated that Scott, who is jailed, remain in custody until her trial as she could be motivated to flee by the prospect of serving long jail time, according to a report by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

"I think that the facts ... underlying the indictment and in the indictment are uniquely egregious and objectionable and we believe there is going to be some significant public outcry as a result of this," Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Jegley told U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray Friday.

However, Ray said that while Scott's alleged crime is "shocking and depraved," she is not considered dangerous, and only those who are flight risks are supposed to be held in jail while awaiting trial.

A hearing will be held Tuesday to determine whether she will be released on bail.

Meanwhile, Pauley is charged in Pennsylvania with misdemeanor counts of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, as well as felony charges of receiving stolen property and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.

He is currently out on bail, and court records showed that his preliminary hearing, which was repeatedly delayed, is scheduled for June 7.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Leslie Taylor, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that university officials are grateful that Scott was charged and called those who donate their bodies for medical research "true heroes."

She also said that the FBI has not said whether the identities of the stolen remains have been determined, saying that embalming damages DNA, which makes it "extremely difficult" to identify them.