A Texas mother is demanding that the “Real Bodies” exhibit perform a DNA test on one of its preserved bodies that she insists belongs to her 23-year-old son, who died in suspicious circumstances in 2012.
On Nov. 10, 2012, Chris Erick, 23, was found dead in his bed at his grandmother’s home in Midlothian, Texas, about 30 miles south of Dallas, where he had been living at the time.
At the time, police informed his mother – Kim Erick – that her son had died in his sleep after suffering two heart attacks, which they attributed to an undiagnosed heart condition, CBS News reports.
Two days later, the grieving mother viewed the body of her son at a local funeral home and then – without consulting her first – Chris’s father and grandmother arranged for his cremation, giving Erick a necklace containing what she was told were some of his ashes.
‘Something very bad happened’
Despite the official explanation, Erick remained unsettled.
Her concerns intensified when she received a set of police scene photographs, which she said showed a series of troubling physical signs that were never mentioned in the initial report.
“Something very bad happened in that room!” she shared in a Facebook post that included graphic images of the young man, dead in his bed. “They had Chris in there for two days before he died. The medical examiner who did the autopsy said Chris suffered two separate heart attacks. In my opinion, Christopher was tortured for the two days he was held in his grandmother’s house in Midlothian Texas. That is where Christopher died.”
Cyanide toxicity
According to Erick, the images revealed extensive bruising, lacerations, and what appeared to be clear restraint marks across her son’s chest, arms, and abdomen. She also described seeing what looked like dry cyanide residue on his lips.
These findings led her to press for further testing, and approximately one month after her son’s death, the Dallas County Medical Examiner tested a preserved vial of his blood, CBS reports.
The results confirmed her suspicions – a lethal concentration of cyanide was found in Chris’s system, prompting officials to revise the cause of death from cardiac arrest to cyanide toxicity. The manner of death was changed to “undetermined.”
‘It’s a cover-up’
“The police made me feel crazy,” Smith said at the time, per CBS. “Finally, I got a letter from the district attorney that he was taking it to a grand jury to let them decide.”
But in 2014, an Ellis County grand jury reviewed the case as part of a murder investigation, but no charges were filed, and the suicide ruling by undetermined means remained unchanged.
“It’s not over. There’s too many unanswered questions. It’s a cover-up,” she added.
‘The Thinker’
Determined to uncover the truth, Erick started her own research, focusing on the distinct skull fracture her son had sustained. That investigation ultimately led her to Real Bodies, a touring anatomy exhibition known for displaying real human cadavers preserved through a process called plastination.
As she studied the publicly available images from the exhibit at Las Vegas’ Horseshoe Hotel, she was startled by one particular body.
The figure labeled “The Thinker” appeared to display the same right-temple skull fracture she had seen in Chris’s medical records.
Additionally, she noted that the shoulder area – where her son had a tattoo – had been carved clean, which she believes may have been a deliberate attempt to conceal his identity. The physical resemblance was too specific to ignore, and what began as a search for closure quickly turned into a new chapter in her investigation.
‘I’m so sorry they did that to you baby’
“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. It is gut-wrenching,” she said, per the Express.
Later on Facebook, the mother shared another post along with several comparison photos of a deceased Chris and the plastinated body. She wrote: “I’m so sorry they did that to you baby!!!! I’m so so sorry!!!!!!!”
DNA demands
Following her discovery, Erick launched a public campaign demanding DNA testing of the specimen. Organizers of the Real Bodies exhibition rejected her request, stating that the figure had been legally sourced from China and had been on display for over 20 years – long before Chris’s death.
They denied any link between the specimen and her son, insisting that there was “no factual basis” for the claim, though they extended condolences to her family, the Express reports.
Body removed from exhibit
Shortly after Erick’s allegations were made public, the figure identified as “The Thinker” was quietly removed from the Las Vegas exhibit. Erick said it was then transferred to Union City, Tennessee, after which she lost all ability to trace its location. The sudden disappearance of the body only deepened her suspicions, and Erick remains committed to uncovering the full truth.
“Chris was never abandoned in life, and I don’t want him abandoned in death either,” she said.
In July 2023, more than 300 piles of unidentified cremated human remains were discovered in the Nevada desert. Erick has called for forensic testing of those remains to determine whether any contain traces of plastination compounds that could link back to her son’s body.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what my family has gone through,” she added.
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