Charges for a former Wesley hospital worker accused of transporting stolen human remains

A former employee at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita has been charged for his role in the trafficking of human remains.

Angelo Pereyra, 39, has been charged with interstate transport of stolen goods; he’s charged with another man, Andrew Ensanian, 38, from Pennsylvania.

A news release from the DOJ said the two caused stolen human remains to be transported between Kansas and Pennsylvania.

The charges come from a multi-year investigation into the nationwide trafficking of stolen human remains, according to the DOJ. Multiple defendants have been charged previously in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and three have thus far entered guilty pleas.

Wesley said in a statement the hospital assisted federal law enforcement in the investigation and Pereyra was immediately terminated.

On Sept. 8, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Thompson, Pennsylvania, admitted to his role in the nationwide network of people who bought and sold human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School and a mortuary in Arkansas.

According to the DOJ, Pauley said he purchased stolen human remains from Candace Scott, who worked for a crematorium in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Scott allegedly stole parts of cadavers she was supposed to have cremated, many of which had been donated to and used for research and educational purposes by an area medical school, as well as the corpses of two stillborn babies who were supposed to be cremated and returned as cremains to their families.

Court documents show Pereyra and Ensanian unlawfully transported, transmitted, and transferred in interstate commerce stolen goods from Wichita to Montgomery, Pennsylvania. The documents clarify the stolen goods were human remains.

An additional defendant has been charged and convicted in Arkansas.  None have yet been sentenced.

The United States Attorney’s Office said it has and will continue to attempt to identify and contact as many of the victims and victims’ families affected by this case as possible.