Certainly there is more to the story, does anyone have any intel?
PHILADELPHIA – The parents of a Marine sergeant who died while stationed in Greece say that they discovered weeks after his funeral that his body had been sent home without a heart — and that the Department of Defense later gave them somebody else’s heart in its place.
The other question; whose heart did DOD ship to these parents?
21Jan Update:
A U.S. diplomat said he tried three times to stop doctors from performing an autopsy on the body of a Marine who had killed himself at the U.S. embassy in Greece, and that he ordered an immediate investigation after the body was sent home without a heart.
My guess is Steyr is implying sale of organs on the black market or the like. At least the would be my guess. At the moment I think most here are just speculating.
If he shot himself in the chest, then it is very possible that the heart was not returned to the body after the autopsy due to structural damage.
I’m not sure about the laws in Greece, but most States require an autopsy for such deaths in their jurisdiction. Thus, I’m not sure that the autopsy was illegal since he was pronounced dead in Greece and subject to their laws.
A U.S. diplomat said he tried three times to stop doctors from performing an autopsy on the body of a Marine who had killed himself at the U.S. embassy in Greece, and that he ordered an immediate investigation after the body was sent home without a heart.
Some hospitals retain and incinerate viscera from autopsies. When returned, they are in a plastic garbage bag, which usually is the container used for replacing them in the body cavity. Embalmers don’t inventory viscera for individual organs. If every family checked every posted case, results might surprise people, but my opinion is that ulterior motives would not be found. I used to work at a funeral home but soon chose to move on.
Like everyone else here, I don’t know anything about Greek law, but … if the Marine in question killed himself at the U.S. embassy, then he killed himself on U.S. soil, so what does Greek law have to do with it? And what right would Greek doctors have to insist on anything?