The Unofficial Kansas Department of WTF

Wichita man sentenced after stealing and selling human remains.

Kansas has officially entered the category of stories where the only appropriate response is to close the laptop and stare out the window for a minute.

A former Wesley Medical Center employee in Wichita has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after admitting that he stole human remains from the hospital's pathology department and sold them to a man he met online.

According to court records reported by The Wichita Eagle, the sales took place between 2018 and 2022. The former employee, Angelo Pereyra, communicated with the buyer through Facebook Messenger after the two connected on eBay.

The transactions involved more than $5,000 worth of stolen human remains and specimens, which were shipped through the U.S. Postal Service. The buyer paid through PayPal.

Yes.

The United States Postal Service.

Apparently, somewhere along the way, nobody thought:

"This package seems unusual."

The case became part of a broader federal investigation into the trafficking of stolen human remains.

Pereyra pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen goods. Prosecutors sought a five-year sentence, describing the nature of the offense as unusually heinous. His attorney requested three months. The court ultimately sentenced him to 18 months in federal prison, followed by supervised release and community service.

Wesley Medical Center said Pereyra was fired immediately after the hospital was alerted by law enforcement.

OUR OFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL ASSESSMENT

There are many questions here.

The first is obviously how someone manages to steal human remains from a hospital and sell them online for four years.

The second is how this apparently involved:

eBay.

Facebook Messenger.

PayPal.

The Postal Service.

At this point, the story contains nearly the complete infrastructure of modern commerce.

The only thing missing was free two-day shipping.

And while the circumstances are disturbing rather than funny, the case also highlights something genuinely strange about the United States: there is no comprehensive federal law specifically prohibiting the buying and selling of human remains, leaving a patchwork of state laws governing the practice.

So, somewhere between "What exactly is in this package?" and "Can I pay you with PayPal?" there exists a surprisingly complicated legal question about who is actually allowed to sell pieces of human beings.

That is a sentence we would have preferred never to write.

THE UNOFFICIAL KANSAS TAKEAWAY

Kansas has plenty of unusual news.

This one wins the category of:

"We really wish this wasn't true."

Unofficial Kansas recommends leaving the human remains at the hospital, where they belong.

Source: Michael Stavola, The Wichita Eagle, January 2, 2025.

Read the original reporting at The Wichita Eagle