The business of buying and selling human bodies is big and mostly unregulated in the US. Companies called “body brokers” get donated bodies, dismember them, then sell whole bodies or parts. These go to researchers, schools, medical device testers, and sometimes the military. The trade is worth about $1 billion and keeps growing. One heartbreaking story is Farrah Fasold’s. After her father died, she donated his body, trusting it would help science. Instead, his arm was found alone in a barrel, and she was sent sand instead of his ashes. Later, his head was found among other body parts at an incinerator. She said, “What they did with my dad’s body is not what he signed up for. There was no justification, no justice.” Kim Erick says she saw her son’s skinned body displayed at a real bodies exhibition in Las Vegas. “As Chris’s mother, I recognise everything about him,” she said. In the UK and Europe, selling human body parts for profit is banned. But in the US, laws allow companies to charge for processing and shipping bodies, creating a loophole for profit. Documents show that bodies are parted out and sold piece by piece. Prices can be high: a torso sells for about £2,360 ($2,761), a liver for £450, and even fingernails go for £5 each. One school janitor’s liver was sold for £450, and a bank manager’s torso fetched over £2,600. This trade serves many: medical schools, surgical training, research labs, and the military. Despite its size, regulation is weak. Some firms like Phoenix-based Biological Resource Center came under FBI probe after body parts were found stored in tubs. Evidence described bodies cut with rough tools like chainsaws. However, prosecutions have struggled because of gaps in the law. Families often sign long consent forms they struggle to read in grief. In some cases, bodies were used for military blast tests without explicit family permission, shredded by shrapnel. Jenny Kleeman, who investigated the business for her book “The Price of Life,” spoke with industry CEO Garland Shreves. He claimed respect for science but admitted he could not promise families they’d get the correct ashes. Medical schools and hospitals still depend on donated bodies. The University of California received 1,600 body donations in 2024 alone. These bodies help train surgeons and advance research. Still, relatives often do not know how remains are handled. The US body brokering industry remains a secretive, booming business between science, money, and grief.