Special delivery! A package of 18 severed human heads was discovered by customs officials at Chicago O'Hare airport, but the package may not belong to a serial killer. Officials are trying to determine if the heads are legitimate medical specimens.
The package of heads was sent from outside of the U.S. and was found on Monday. While finding a box of heads may be shocking, it appears that heads are used for medical purposes.
"There's no issue with the transportation of body parts for medical purposes,"Brian Bell, a Chicago-based spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told The Sun Times.
"There's nothing against the law that says you cannot ship them, provided you have the right documentation," he continued.Bell says that while it may seem strange to some, it is actually common for body parts to pass through airports.
"Everybody here is 'Oh my gosh, you got a box of heads' and everybody thinks that it's unheard of," Bell told the Times. "It is a potentially legitimate medical shipment. We've seen it at various ports in the nation."
Bell didn't go into too many details about the heads. He wouldn't say where they were from, where they were going or how 18 severed heads are preserved.
The heads still contained skin and they were transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office to be inspected and to make sure that they are nothing more than medical specimens. However investigators don't believe foul play was involved.
"We need to make sure that they are truly used for medical research purposes," Bell told the Times.
As Bell pointed out, this isn't the first time a package of heads was shipped to an airport. In June 2010, a package of 60 severed heads was discovered at at Arkansas airport. These heads were also beleived to be medical specimens.
