Jill Hansen only wanted to honor her husband Steve, who died in 2012 from liver cirrhosis.
Since his organs were not suitable for transplant, hospice staff suggested that she donate his entire body to science. She signed the papers thinking of something noble: that his history with alcohol could help research the disease in other patients. The body arrived at the Biological Research Center in Arizona, run by Stephen Gore.
That was where the part Jill knew about ended. Gore sold the body, without her consent, to the United States Department of Defense, which used it as a mannequin in the simulated explosion of a military Humvee. Jill found out afterward and was devastated. FBI agent Paul Micah Johnson, who investigated the case, spoke of a gray and black market in human bodies that operates with almost no oversight: every year, some 20.000 families in the U.S. donate a body, trusting that it will be used respectfully.
