New Mexico business owner questioned in body parts case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. | Police cruisers were parked this evening in front of an Albuquerque business that distributes bodies for medical research while an officer talked to the owner inside.

Police spokeswoman Nadine Hamby said officers were not investigating Bio Care today but merely responding to a request by the Wyandotte County coroner’s office to act as liaisons between the office and the company.

Hamby said the owner of Bio Care agreed to turn over records to police.

“If we feel that …there is a crime committed and the crime is in our jurisdiction, we’ll proceed with an investigation,” she said.

The company has been linked to six heads and tubs of human body parts found inside a delivery truck at a Kansas City, Kan., medical waste facility.

The parts ended up in the custody of Stericycle, a Kansas City, Kan., company that disposes of waste such as operating room debris or syringes but doesn’t incinerate major body parts.

Wyandotte County Coroner Alan Hancock said today that he has identified two men and a woman among the body parts but will not release names until families are notified. He said he hopes to identify more of the remains and then have Albuquerque authorities tell families.

Bio Care is a private firm that encourages people to donate their bodies to science and says it returns cremated remains to families.

Paul Montano, the owner of Bio Care and the affiliated firm, The Learning Center, has not returned phone calls from The Kansas City Star. A man at Bio Care who identified himself as Paul told The Associated Press that his company was not involved and the shipment could have come from anywhere in the southwest.

Stericycle officials have declined comment. An employee there called police weeks ago after finding that workers had partially burned a head and torso.

Joe Lambe, jlambe@kcstar.com; Meredith Rodriguez, mrodriguez@kcstar.com and The Associated Press