CHICAGO/NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Officials in Arkansas are investigating a shipment of 40 to 60 human heads found by Southwest Airlines employees at a cargo facility last week in Little Rock, the Pulaski County coroner said yesterday.
The shipment of three separate containers was discovered last Wednesday at the facility after employees saw the package was “not labeled properly,” Southwest spokeswoman Ashley Rogers said.
Employees opened the box last Wednesday evening, found the heads and contacted local police, who turned the heads over to the local coroner.
“They were basically in plastic containers with lids that are not air sealed,” Coroner Garland Camper said. “They were duct taped with minimal information to disclose what was inside.”
The heads were being shipped to a Medtronic Inc facility in Fort Worth, Texas. They were for educational training for neurosurgeons studying ear, nose and throat procedures, said Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry.
Camper said there were between 40 and 60 heads packed in three containers. Henry said the company had ordered four heads and 40 skull parts, or the portion of the head with the ear.
