A Las Vegas anatomy museum has issued a firm response to renewed and deeply unsettling allegations from a Texas mother who believes one of its plastinated human displays is actually the body of her deceased son. The claim, which has circulated online for years and recently resurfaced on social media and alternative news outlets, has reopened an emotional chapter surrounding a death she has never fully accepted.
Kim Erick maintains that her son, Chris Todd Erick, who died in 2012 at the age of 23, was not cremated as she had been told. Instead, she alleges that his remains were used without her consent in the Real Bodies anatomy exhibition. Her focus is on a plastinated cadaver called “The Thinker,” a seated, skinless human figure displayed for years in Las Vegas and other cities as part of the popular educational exhibit.
Chris was found dead in his bed at his grandmother’s home in Midlothian, Texas, about 30 miles south of Dallas. Authorities told Kim that he had died in his sleep after suffering two heart attacks, reportedly caused by an undiagnosed congenital heart condition. In the days following his death, while Kim says she was still in shock, Chris’s father and grandmother arranged for his cremation. She was later given a necklace containing ashes purported to be her son’s.
Almost immediately, Kim began to question the official narrative. Her doubts intensified when she obtained police photographs from the scene, which she says revealed injuries that were never explained to her: bruising, marks across his chest and abdomen, and what she interpreted as signs of restraint or prolonged suffering.
In a social media post, Kim claimed that “something very bad happened in that room,” suggesting that her son may have been harmed in the days before his death. She alleged that Chris could have been “tortured for two days” prior to dying. However, a 2014 homicide investigation found no evidence of foul play, and the medical examiner’s findings upheld the original conclusion, leaving Kim devastated and unconvinced.
Unable to reconcile the official reports with what she believed she had seen, Kim began years of independent research. In 2018, she visited the Real Bodies exhibition, a traveling anatomy display featuring plastinated human cadavers preserved for medical education. It was there, she says, that her suspicions crystallized.
One specimen stopped her cold. “The Thinker” appeared to have a distinctive skull fracture on the right temple, which Kim said matched medical documentation related to Chris. She also claimed that a tattoo area had been removed, which she interpreted as deliberate concealment of identifying marks.
Standing in front of the display, Kim described the experience as overwhelming and traumatic, saying it felt like she was seeing her son’s dissected body. The encounter reignited her grief and led to a public campaign for answers, accountability, and forensic verification.
Kim requested independent DNA testing of the specimen, but the exhibition denied the request. Organizers of Real Bodies stated that the cadaver had no connection to Chris Erick and that testing was neither warranted nor feasible. Imagine Exhibitions, Inc., the company behind the exhibit, released a statement via fact-checking outlet Lead Stories, expressing sympathy for Kim’s loss but categorically rejecting her claims.
The company explained that all specimens in the Real Bodies exhibition were legally acquired overseas, primarily in China, following documented and regulated procedures that complied with international standards. “The Thinker” had been part of the collection for over two decades and was publicly displayed in Las Vegas since at least 2004—eight years before Chris’s death.
Archived photographs of the specimen taken prior to 2012 support this timeline, and experts noted that plastination is a lengthy scientific process requiring months to complete, making Kim’s theory inconsistent with the records. The company also emphasized that plastinated specimens are biologically anonymized, leaving no DNA available for comparison.
Despite these explanations, Kim’s distrust grew when “The Thinker” was quietly removed from the Las Vegas exhibit shortly after her allegations resurfaced online. The specimen was reportedly transferred to Union City, Tennessee, though she later could not track its location. To Kim, the removal seemed suspicious rather than routine.
For Kim, the issue goes beyond a single exhibit. She has repeatedly stated that her fight is about dignity, transparency, and a mother’s right to know what truly happened to her child. “Chris was never abandoned in life,” she said, “and I won’t allow him to be abandoned in death.”
In July 2023, the discovery of over 300 piles of unidentified cremated human remains in the Nevada desert reignited her fears. While authorities did not connect the remains to any museum or exhibition, Kim called for advanced forensic testing, including analysis for chemicals used in plastination, to rule out wider mishandling of human remains.
Experts and investigators continue to affirm the documented evidence, insisting there is no factual basis for Kim’s claims. Museum officials say misinformation about anatomy exhibits has fueled public confusion, while acknowledging the grief driving Kim’s actions.
The story has become a viral and polarizing case study at the crossroads of grief, forensic science, ethical sourcing of human remains, and public trust in institutions. Online searches for terms like “Real Bodies exhibit controversy,” “plastinated human cadavers,” “museum ethics,” and “unidentified human remains investigation” have surged as the debate continues.
For Kim Erick, however, statistics, timelines, and official statements have never been enough. Her search for answers persists, driven by loss, conviction, and a refusal to let her son’s story end without what she believes is the full truth. Whether her claims are remembered as tragic misunderstanding or unresolved mystery, they highlight the enduring power of grief and the lengths a parent will go to seek closure.