Investigations

On July 12, 2022, Shirley Koch pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to one count of mail fraud and aiding and abetting. According to the plea agreement, from 2010 through 2018, Koch helped execute a scheme to steal the bodies or body parts of hundreds of victims and then sold those remains to buyers purchasing the remains for scientific, medical, or educational purposes. The investigation also revealed that Koch, at the direction of another, shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for or belonged to people who had died from infectious diseases after certifying to buyers that the remains were disease free. The shipments were made through the mail or on commercial air flights in violation of DOT regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous material. Koch was indicted in March 2020. Another individual, Megan Hess, pleaded guilty to charges in connection with this scheme on July 5, 2022.

 

DOT-OIG and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are conducting this investigation.