Their Dad's Body Was Stolen from the Harvard Morgue. Now Kids Want Their Mom Back: 'It's Just Sickening'

Nick Pichowicz dropped out of school in the eighth grade to work on his family’s farm. But he was a passionate life-long learner, who retired as a deputy sheriff in Rockingham County, N.H., got his pilot’s license, bought and flew his own 4-passenger Stinson airplane and before he died in 2019, asked that his remains be dedicated to Harvard Medical School for scientific research and education. 

“He looked up to this prestigious school, and he and my mom wanted to donate to science to help other people,” their daughter, Darlene Lynch, 60, tells PEOPLE. “That was always their wish, so we honored their wish.”

Pichowicz’s name is now on a list held by The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, documenting stolen human remains trafficked in an alleged multi-state organ and cadaver-selling scheme.

Cedric Lodge, 55, who until May, managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School in Boston, allegedly sold the human remains on the black market from 2018 until March of this year, prosecutors said. Sometimes, ahead of slated cremations, Lodge allegedly invited buyers to come to the morgue and rifle through the body parts. Other times, he allegedly shipped the remains across state lines from Massachusetts into New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Among the requested items that he scouted for at the morgue: human skin used to tan into leather, according to the 15-page indictment reviewed by PEOPLE.

Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, 63, allegedly helped facilitate sales by phone and social media. She accepted 39 payments over PayPal alleged to be from Joshua Taylor, 46, for Harvard remains, including a $1,000 transaction for “head number 7” and $200 for what he labeled “braiiiiiins,” according to the indictment.

The Lodges and Taylor, along with Katrina Maclean, 44, and Mathew Lampi, 52, are charged with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. If found guilty, they could face up to 15 years behind bars. Jeremy Pauley, 41, is charged with criminal information and Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Ark., separately faces charges, which include the sale of the corpses of two stillborn babies. No defense attorneys for the suspects have been listed on online court records at this time.

“Some crimes defy understanding,” United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a statement. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing.”

The Pichowicz family called twice to determine if their dad was on the list of stolen remains, Lynch said: “because we wanted to make sure it was right. We were hoping it wasn’t.” 

Nicholas Pichowicz, the couple’s only son, tells PEOPLE that the family was “shocked, sad and angry” about what had happened. “We feel extremely betrayed by these individuals and the school,” he said.

Married for 66 years, Pichowicz and his wife, Joan, were a united team, raising five kids. They both retired as law enforcement officers. Joan, a police officer in their hometown of Plaistow, was known for taking care of her community — taking in runaway teenagers and nursing stray animals back to health. “Her door was always open to help anybody, for any reason,” Lynch said. “No judgment.”

The couple agreed on all the big things, including how they wanted to help people even after their deaths, Lynch said. When Joan died this March, her wish was to follow her husband to Harvard Medical School.

Lynch said she has called the school to determine how to get her mother’s body returned — but has not heard back. “We’re trying to get her back,” Lynch said, her voice cracking. “We just want some relief — relief in getting my mom back. We just want to bury her next to my dad.”

Lynch said the family has lost faith in the cause her parents once believed in. “Harvard should’ve had more security, oversight and protocols,” she said. “I mean, we give them the bodies of our loved ones, thinking, trusting that it’s for the good.”

Lynch learned of the investigation Wednesday, after seeing a local news article following the release of the indictment. She was disappointed the family did not hear from authorities directly.  

“Even now I get this nauseous feeling,” she said of learning what happened to her father. “When I first heard about it, I wanted to throw up. It’s just sickening that people can do this. It’s crazy, messed up, unimaginable.”

Now, Lynch said, the family is grieving twice: Once for their parents’ deaths and again for the way in which their final wishes were not kept. 

“We want to get his parts back, whatever that means,” Lynch said of her father. “And the ashes we have — are they him?”