Chicago Body Harvesting Ring Exposed

0:02 Once again, hundreds of families will be left wondering if the bodies of loved ones have been bought and sold on the black market. 7 Action News investigator Jim Kirschner is here tonight with a store you'll see only on 7 Jim. Steven and Carolyn, this case started here, according to sources, when a man named Arthur Rathburn was shipping human body parts through Metro Airport. Get this the box leaked blood. Those cargo haulers then called for help. The underground human body trade industry has exposed shocking illegal activities operating within America's poorly regulated tissue donation system. What began as raids on 2 unassuming Chicago suburban businesses, a crematorium, and the Biological Resource Center of Illinois, BR Sill, revealed A disturbing network trafficking in human remains under the guise of medical science.

0:51 Federal agents discovered thousands of meticulously cataloged human body parts with specific price tags, head selling for $500, arms for $750, and complete bodies commanding 1000 dollars, $5000. The operation allegedly deceived donors and families who believe they were contributing to medical research rather than having remains sold for profit in a commercial enterprise. The investigation uncovered particularly troubling health risks. Many body parts were infected with HIV, hepatitis, and other serious diseases that should have immediately disqualified them from any medical use or sale.

1:35 Despite these dangers, the remains were allegedly sold to hospitals, doctors, and medical training facilities both within the United States and internationally, potentially exposing healthcare workers to significant risks. The father son owners of Bar Sill, Donald Green Senior and Donald Green Junior, received what many consider surprisingly light sentences. Green Senior was sentenced to 24 months in prison with 36 months of supervised release, while Green Junior received just 30 days of incarceration with one year of supervised release. Both were also assessed minimal fines of $100. This Chicago operation was far from unique. Similar body broker rings have been exposed across the country, revealing a pattern of exploitation spanning decades. In Arizona, a 2014 FBI raid of the Biological Resource Center owned by Steven Gore uncovered scenes that shocked even veteran investigators.

2:38 Agents found coolers filled with severed heads, buckets of limbs, and, most disturbingly, torsos with mismatched heads sewn together in what court documents described as reminiscent of Frankenstein's monster. Despite the gruesome nature of these discoveries, Gore received only probation after pleading guilty. A 2018 Reuters investigation titled The Body Trade exposed how a Detroit warehouse connected to the Illinois case was operated by Arthur Rathburn. He ultimately received a nine year prison sentence for fraud and shipping hazardous materials After supplying body parts infected with HIV and hepatitis to medical researchers in Colorado. Mother, Daughter funeral directors Megan Hess and Shirley Koch operated the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home while allegedly selling body parts from hundreds of corpses meant for cremation. In many cases, they provided families with concrete dust instead of actual ashes.

3:42 Both women pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2023. A disturbing pattern has emerged connecting these body broker operations to unexplained disappearances from medical facilities across the country. Multiple cases share striking similarities, patients vanishing despite the presence of security cameras, personal belongings left behind, and suspicious gaps in surveillance footage at critical moments. The case of two year old Neva Richard highlights the vulnerability of patients. She disappeared from a Cleveland doctor's appointment in 2012 where she was being treated for Wardenberg syndrome, a rare genetic condition.

4:23 The circumstances of her separation from her caregiver remain unclear. Carlton Pernell vanished from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, leaving behind his wallet and personal items. No surveillance footage showed him actually leaving the facility. Frank Brown disappeared in 2015 from Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville after being treated for seizures. Despite calling family for a ride home and them arriving within 30 minutes, he was never seen again. Security footage showed him in the hospital but never captured his exit. Similar cases include Bartolo Diaz Ortiz, who vanished after allegedly being taken to an Arizona hospital, George Gregory Smith, who disappeared after supposed discharge from a Detroit hospital, and Shanice Burrell, who vanished while visiting her newborn in a Saint Louis NICU. Lamont Jenkins and Derek Chambers also disappeared from hospitals in Cleveland and Oak Lawn, respectively. The geographic overlap between these disappearances and known body broker operations raises disturbing questions. Many vanishments occurred in the same cities where illegal body trading operations were later exposed, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix and other major metropolitan areas. The industry operates in a dangerous regulatory vacuum. While organ donation for transplants is strictly controlled by federal law, the

5:54 trade in non transplant body parts has minimal oversight. Only a handful of states have enacted specific regulations governing body brokers, creating opportunities for exploitation and abuse. The legitimate medical donation industry serves vital purposes, allowing surgeons to practice new techniques, researchers to test medical devices, and students to study human anatomy. However, the combination of profit potential and minimal regulation creates conditions ripe for criminal exploitation. Law enforcement officials have been reluctant to publicly comment on potential connections between missing persons cases and the body broker industry.

6:37 However, multiple agencies have quietly reopened investigations, suggesting possible links are being explored. The unsealed documents from these investigations highlight serious issues at the intersection of medicine, ethics and commerce. The cases demonstrate urgent need for greater transparency, consistent standards and appropriate oversight to ensure body donations are handled ethically and with dignity. For families of missing persons, the possibility their loved ones could have been exploited by this industry adds new horror to their ongoing nightmare. The pattern of disappearances from medical facilities, combined with the documented illegal trade in human remains raises disturbing questions about vulnerability within the healthcare system. These cases under score the importance of having trusted companions present during medical visits and hospitalizations.

7:36 The profit motive in the largely unregulated body broker industry, combined with suspicious patterns of disappearances, suggests patients may be at risk from those willing to cross ethical and legal boundaries for financial gain. Reform efforts must focus on closing regulatory gaps while preserving legitimate medical donation programs that advance healthcare. Until stronger oversight is implemented, the intersection of missing persons cases and the underground body trade will continue, raising troubling questions about exploitation of society's most vulnerable members. Why were you stockpiling hundreds of human body parts here, Sir? That's Art Rathburn.

8:19 And remember his business 13 months ago? For two days, federal investigators dressed in hazmat suits removed body parts of 1000 different people, arms, legs, heads, cut up and kept on ice, not embalmed, so they would be fresh for the black market. Today, the rundown warehouse on Detroit's east side is shuttered and up for sale. Sources say Rathburn's seized records LED to the Chicago area today, a business called Biological Resource Center in Rosemont. It's difficult to see from the outside, but sources say the hazmat suits and raid are underway on the 6th floor of this office building. The same paper trail LED investigators to Biological Resource Center in Phoenix last January and another raid removing body parts and corpses. There were also ties to similar businesses in Las Vegas. Since these dealt directly with the public, families were left without answers.

9:15 Julie donated her husband Steve's body and was promised his cremated remains back in a month. Confused and and angry. We thought this was going to be doing some good. Yeah, it doesn't sound like it is. What do you say to all those families who had no idea their loved ones were in here? Michigan pulled Art Rathburn's license last year after our reporting, even though they were told about his problems two years before. Go find out what the heck he is doing. And that wasn't done right. Did we do something two years ago? No, we didn't. Are we doing an investigation now? Yes, we are. Are you? Worried about going to prison now? No one has been charged by the feds yet. They're actually 2 locations involved in this raid going on right now in the Chicago area.

10:02 The offices in Rosemont and the lab in another suburb where they have found body parts. But my sources say this case is winding down. And with this new evidence in Chicago, they can now finish this case after some 13 months. Thanks for listening to No Tears for Black Girls. If you enjoyed our show, please take a moment to leave us a five star rating, Hit that subscribe button and give us a follow on social media. Your support means the world to us and helps us continue sharing these important stories. Stay blessed, stay loved, and most importantly, stay safe.