Death investigations across the U.S. have been complicated or upended because transplantable body parts were taken before autopsies could be performed. The @latimes found more than two dozen cases in L.A. and San Diego counties: lat.ms/2VDykmS
These cases have had life-altering consequences. At least one murder charge was dropped. Possible homicides were left undetermined. The sudden deaths of two teens were never solved.
In some cases, autopsies were held off to allow companies to harvest body parts often used in cosmetic surgery to plump lips and posteriors, fill cellulite dimples and enhance penises. lat.ms/2VDykmS
A human body can supply skin, bone and other tissues for medical products that biotech firms sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars to doctors and hospitals. Here are prices the @latimes found in a review of invoices received by hospitals. lat.ms/2VDykmS 
This man pled with OneLegacy not to take tissues from his son before the coroner’s autopsy. But because he had signed up to be a donor, the family could not stop the procurement. No one ever discovered why he had died. lat.ms/2VDykmS
This is the first part of a series by Melody Petersen and David Willman. Read Part 2 here: lat.ms/2Bk8CuF
