What's a Robber?

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Elena Cevadra Buckley is an editor for High Country News. She was living in Gunnison, Colorado at the time and heard about what was going on at Sunset Mesa. In July of 2018, she got a call from the FBI asking her to bring Laura's ashes. The FBI agent told Debbie that not only had Laura's bladder not been donated, but that her whole body had been sold.

Debbie Schum waited a long time to receive the cremated ashes of her friend, LoraLee Johnson. When she did, she felt relieved to finally take them home with her. But then, she got a call from the FBI.

We first aired this episode in 2020. Earlier this month, Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were sentenced for their crimes. We've included updates about the case in this version of the episode.

To learn more, check out Elena Saavedra Buckley’s article, “‘None of this happened the way you think it did.’”

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