‘Grotesque': Harvard faces new lawsuit for emotional distress over morgue scandal

Harvard is facing another possible lawsuit over the theft and sale of body parts from its morgue.

Paula Peltonovich of Newton, New Hampshire, says her father's remains may have been among those stolen from Harvard Medical School's morgue and sold on the black market.

"They sent my father's ashes back," said Peltonovich. "I don't even know if they are my father's ashes."

Her parents, Joan and Nicholas Pichowicz, wanted to do something for science, so they signed up to have their bodies donated to Harvard Medical School.

"They just wanted to give back," said Peltonovich. "So we honored their wishes."

Last week, she received a letter from Harvard alerting her that her dad could be one of the people whose body was tampered with.

"Never in my life would expect this to happen," she said. "It is grotesque."

Prosecutors say Harvard Medical School's morgue manager, Cedric Lodge, allowed people into the morgue to choose which body parts they wanted. He also allegedly brought body parts to his home, where he and his wife are accused of shipping them to buyers.

"To think someone may have something of my father's," said Peltonovich.

A lawyer who may file a lawsuit on her behalf says the allegations have caused emotional distress.

"It's shocking to me there could be so many victims over the course of five years," said Tom Flaws of Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. "And where was the oversight? Where were the people questioning what was happening with these bodies?"

Law enforcement says up to 400 donated bodies could have had body parts stolen.

"I'll never know," said Peltonovich. "How are you going to know?"

She's hoping a lawsuit will turn up some answers, but she's not sure she'll ever find out whose ashes are in the urn that sits on her bureau.

"And now we have to go through this ourselves all over again," she said. "Wondering what part of my dad is gone, if I have Dad's ashes. It's terrible."

A separate class action lawsuit was filed last week.

Harvard tells NBC10 Boston it does not comment on pending litigation.