New documents reveal chilling details of alleged 'body broker' ring

SCHILLER PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Newly-unsealed documents detail what federal investigators allegedly found when they raided two suburban businesses, a Schiller Park crematorium and the Rosemont office of the Biological Resource Center of Illinois, which arranges body donations for medical research, in January.

The documents say that the raids uncovered thousands of body parts and tissue samples; everything from heads and hands to legs and torsos, all part of an alleged "body broker" ring that illegally obtained and sold human remains on the black market.

Federal authorities say the operation came to light after scores of body parts were found on ice, instead of embalmed, in warehouses in Detroit and Phoenix.

Documents show some of the remains were infected with HIV, Hepatitis and other disease, but nonetheless sold for medical training to hospitals and doctors in the U.S. and overseas.

Federal agents say those body parts were supplied by Biological Resource Center of Illinois. They also say the company lied to its donors, promising remains would not be sold.

But financial records obtained in the January raids show whole corpses were routinely sold for $5,000, arms for $750 and heads for $500.

Named in the documents are Donald A. Greene and Donald A. Greene II, the father-and-son owners of Biological Resource Center and the Schiller Park crematorium.

Their attorney responded to the documents in an email, saying, "There is significant information missing from the affidavit that provides a fuller picture of the standards and practices employed by BRCIL. Those standards and practices are in line with industry standards."

That attorney says BRCIL has been cooperative with investigators. The unsealed documents are related to the search warrants executed in January, and no criminal charges have yet been filed.