Grieving mum horrified to ‘discover son’s dead body on display at museum’

Kim Erick was told by officers that her darling son Chris had killed himself; however, she is now certain that his remains are now on display in a museum in Las Vegas

A grieving mother was left sickened when she believed she had found the remains of her son on display in a museum. This came despite the woman believing her son had taken his own life and had gone missing, in a bizarre murder mystery.

Kim Erick, 54, was in the Real Bodies exhibition in Las Vegas when she came across the body of what she believes to be her son. She was left horrified after seeing his body “skinned” and “butchered” for others to gawk at. However, the museum denies the body is that of her son’s.

Police have insisted they have looked into Kim’s son Chris’ death and are confident that there was no foul play involved. However, Kim is certain there is something darker related to how he ultimately died and allegedly appeared in the museum.

Texas native Kim told the Sun when she saw the body for the first time: “I knew it was him; it was so unbelievably painful to look at. My words cannot describe how this shook me and my family to its core.

“I was actually looking at pictures of my son’s skinned, butchered body,” she added. “It is gut-wrenching.”

The remains were featured in the Real Bodies exhibition in Las Vegas, which features actual human bodies that have been perfectly preserved, allowing for fellow humans to see what is really inside themselves. Now, she is pleading to have DNA tests carried out on the cadaver to see if it is in fact her son.

Kim and Chris had a deep and emotional connection as mother and son, but everything was turned upside down when Chris was found dead in November 2012 at his grandmother’s house. Officers investigated his passing and told Kim that he passed peacefully in his sleep after suffering two heart attacks.

But whilst Chris’ dad — and Kim’s former partner — handled the process of cremation, Kim insists no funeral plans were ever made. She was later given a small necklace with a vial of ashes inside, believed to be her darling son.

However, Kim was not satisfied and sussed there could be more than meets the eye and pleaded with police to reopen the case. Weeks later, she was sent photos of his body at the scene of his death, covered in bruises and lacerations.

“The photos were very disturbing,” recalled Kim. “There were restraining marks across Chris’s arms, chest and abdomen.”

Kim continued to press for further probes into Chris’ death and a toxicology report found there was a lethal amount of cyanide in his system. The poisoning was the final straw for Kim, who is now certain he has been murdered.

A jury in 2014 later launched a murder inquiry into Chris’ death, but ultimately found no evidence to support the homicide theory, officially ruling his death as likely being suicide. But Kim remains certain someone has taken her son away from her and has continued to push for answers and confirmation he was killed.

Then, in 2018, she learned of the Real Bodies exhibit and, looking at some of the photos of the bodies featured, she is now certain that one of the bodies is that of her son. She explained that one of the bodies have consistencies that are almost identical to a crushed skull that Chris is likely to have suffered.

“I started looking online for the deep skull fracture I saw in Chris’s right temple of his head when he died,” she explained. When I saw the platinated body online in the news article with this same skull fracture… it was too painful to look closer.”

As well as this, Chris’ identifiable tattoos had been “shaved away” on the body in the exhibition — an unusual characteristic, as tattoos typically remain on a body when it is preserved due to the deep penetration of the ink. The only way to remove the tattoo is to strip the skin it was put on, something Kim says happened to preserve the identity of the body.

Kim has never been to the exhibition herself, as it was too far for her to go to, but has appealed to the curators to give the remains to her. Bosses at the exhibition have insisted the bodies came from China and there is no discernible way for the bodies to be identified.

Imagine Exhibitions, Inc., which owns Real Bodies, responded with a statement. They said: “We extend our sympathy to the family, but there is no factual basis for these allegations. The referenced specimen has been on continuous display in Las Vegas since 2004 and cannot be associated with the individual named in these claims.

“All specimens are ethically sourced and biologically unidentifiable. We remain committed to ensuring that all exhibits meet the highest ethical and legal standards.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.