Deeman3
06-17-2010, 12:38 PM
Dozens of human heads were intercepted by a Southwest Airlines employee last week, the airline confirmed Thursday.
The heads, which were intercepted in Little Rock, Ark., were handed over to local officials who are now investigating whether or not the heads were properly obtained.
Southwest officials said the airline refused to ship the package because it was not labeled correctly. "And then when we found out what was in the package, we contacted local authorities and they contacted the coroner," said airline spokesman Marilee McInnish.
The package was on its way to the Fort Worth office of Medtronic, a Minnesota-based medical research and technology company, NBC's affiliate in Dallas Fort-Worth reported. Little Rock police handed the package over to the country coroner.
The coroner is currently investigating whether the heads were legally obtained.
"We've come to the conclusion that there is a black market out there for human body parts for research or for whatever reason," Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper told NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. "We just want to make sure these specimens here aren't a part of that black market and underground trade."
McInnish said it was her understanding that the heads were going to be used for educational and research purposes.
According to Federal law, human body parts cannot be sold. Suppliers of the parts, however, can be reimbursed when those parts are used for legitimate medical education and research.
A Medtronic spokesman told NBC that JLS Consulting LLC, based in Conway, Ark., was the supplier of the heads in this instance.
The founder of JLS told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that nothing was wrong, and that her company was providing authorities with the proper documentation.
Southwest is now working to educate the parties involved in the shipment of the heads on proper protocol for body-part shipments, McInnish said.
More from msnbc.com
<span style="color: #FF0000"> I like the part about finding out if the "Heads were properly obtained." /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
Most of us who possess human heads are very particular about how we obtain them. Wasn't this covered in a movie like "Ten Heads ina Duffle Bag" of something?
I can almost assure you my shrunken head was obtained properly. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif</span>
The heads, which were intercepted in Little Rock, Ark., were handed over to local officials who are now investigating whether or not the heads were properly obtained.
Southwest officials said the airline refused to ship the package because it was not labeled correctly. "And then when we found out what was in the package, we contacted local authorities and they contacted the coroner," said airline spokesman Marilee McInnish.
The package was on its way to the Fort Worth office of Medtronic, a Minnesota-based medical research and technology company, NBC's affiliate in Dallas Fort-Worth reported. Little Rock police handed the package over to the country coroner.
The coroner is currently investigating whether the heads were legally obtained.
"We've come to the conclusion that there is a black market out there for human body parts for research or for whatever reason," Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper told NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. "We just want to make sure these specimens here aren't a part of that black market and underground trade."
McInnish said it was her understanding that the heads were going to be used for educational and research purposes.
According to Federal law, human body parts cannot be sold. Suppliers of the parts, however, can be reimbursed when those parts are used for legitimate medical education and research.
A Medtronic spokesman told NBC that JLS Consulting LLC, based in Conway, Ark., was the supplier of the heads in this instance.
The founder of JLS told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that nothing was wrong, and that her company was providing authorities with the proper documentation.
Southwest is now working to educate the parties involved in the shipment of the heads on proper protocol for body-part shipments, McInnish said.
More from msnbc.com
<span style="color: #FF0000"> I like the part about finding out if the "Heads were properly obtained." /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
Most of us who possess human heads are very particular about how we obtain them. Wasn't this covered in a movie like "Ten Heads ina Duffle Bag" of something?
I can almost assure you my shrunken head was obtained properly. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif</span>