A shipment of 18 human heads stopped by customs officials at O’Hare International Airport was sent here from Rome to be cremated after being used in medical research, officials said Tuesday.
A generic image of O’Hare Airport
According to a spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, the specimens were shipped before Christmas.
“The embalmed heads are anatomical specimens used for research and were properly preserved, wrapped and labeled when they arrived at the airport,” said ME office spokeswoman Mary Paleologos in a news release.
The three sealed coolers holding the specimens was held by customs because the final destination was not clearly indicated on the paperwork. They were delivered to the medical examiner’s office on Monday so they could be properly stored while officials investigated the shipment.
On Tuesday morning, a cremation service from Schiller Parked arrived at the ME’s Office with paperwork for the specimens. The cremation service says they were shipped back to the United States for final disposal. The remains will not be released until federal authorities confirm the paperwork.
The ME’s Office will photograph and x-ray the specimens for record purposes, Paleologos said in the release.
20 Comments to “Officials: 18 human heads found at O’Hare”
January 15, 2013 at 9:16 AM
Is there any kind of a story here?
January 15, 2013 at 2:42 PM
No sh*t, Todd. Just a bunch of nosy parkers at the airport
January 15, 2013 at 11:40 AM
I guess I won't be heading to the airport anytime soon. :~|.
January 15, 2013 at 11:44 AM
If you're going to the airport, be sure and call ahead.
January 15, 2013 at 1:58 PM
Journalism at its best, this is not a story it’s a headline. Getting close to deleting this app
January 15, 2013 at 2:04 PM
I don't understand why they weren't cremated in Rome? Lots of missing info.
January 15, 2013 at 2:07 PM
They were headed back home?
January 15, 2013 at 2:59 PM
Maybe they were destined to be TV news anchors?
January 15, 2013 at 4:40 PM
Mexican drug cartels just leave them on the streets of Mexican cities to be picked up by the trash man.
January 15, 2013 at 6:42 PM
Were they in a duffle bag!! (Movie)
January 15, 2013 at 8:03 PM
Hey, my husband lost his head the other night, maybe…..
January 16, 2013 at 5:30 AM
Heady journalism at its best
January 16, 2013 at 8:22 AM
Here is another example of the incorrect term "final destination". Destination is the end point and needs no modifier. Heads up to WGN (the cheap news)
January 16, 2013 at 2:51 PM
Glad the folks at customs put their heads together and figured this one out.
January 16, 2013 at 10:16 PM
There might be a story…this article says there were 18 heads…the headline on FB reads 17. Someone has clearly lost their head…
Also if you read between the lines you can deduce that the U.S. outsources medical research on heads.
January 16, 2013 at 10:18 PM
But apparently we do our own cremating…
January 18, 2013 at 7:42 AM
Shipped around Christmas? Someone must have been trying to make Egg Noggin
March 18, 2013 at 12:09 AM
They spelled my town wrong….it's Schiller Park. Get it right WGN…