A grieving mother's search for closure has transformed into a real-life horror story, alleging that her deceased son's body was secretly transformed into a plasticised museum exhibit years after his supposed cremation.
The Mysterious Death and Changing Narratives
Christopher Todd Erick died in 2012 at just 23 years old. Initial reports suggested he had suffered two heart attacks in his sleep while staying at his grandmother's home, with authorities ruling the death as natural or possibly suicide.
However, his mother Kim Erick, now 54, never accepted this explanation. Her persistence led her to obtain case materials from the Midlothian Police Department, where she discovered disturbing evidence that contradicted the official story.
Kim alleges that crime scene photos revealed her son had been "covered in bruises and lacerations" and she observed images of a chair with straps attached, suggesting possible torture before death.
The Cyanide Discovery and Museum Horror
Even more chilling was Kim's observation of "dry cyanide salt" on Christopher's lips. After her persistent demands, a medical examiner tested a vial of his blood and confirmed a lethal dose of cyanide.
Though the cause of death was amended to cyanide toxicity, a grand jury in 2014 could not prove foul play, and the death was officially ruled a suicide by "undetermined means."
The story took its most bizarre turn in 2018 when Kim was browsing online images of the Real Bodies exhibition in Las Vegas - a display of perfectly preserved human specimens designed to show anatomy.
Kim immediately recognised one figure known as "The Thinker" as her son Christopher, despite his body supposedly having been cremated years earlier.
"I knew it was him," Kim told The Sun. "It was so unbelievably painful to look at... I was actually looking at pictures of my son's skinned, butchered body. It is gut-wrenching."
Identifying Marks and Ongoing Battle
Kim claims the plastinated figure bore specific identifying marks matching her son, including a deep skull fracture on the right temple that she remembered seeing after Christopher's death.
She also alleges that an area of skin where Christopher had a tattoo appeared to have been "shaved down" to conceal his identity. "As Chris' mother, I recognise everything about him," she stated.
Kim's quest for truth has become an obsession, complicated by the fact that her ex-husband handled the cremation arrangements during her period of intense grief. She received only a necklace containing a small amount of ashes and claims there was no funeral.
Now convinced the museum exhibit contains Christopher's remains, she is demanding DNA testing. However, her fight has encountered obstacles, with the body allegedly being moved to Union City, Tennessee after she raised concerns.
Imagine Exhibitions, Inc., the company behind Real Bodies, has firmly denied Kim's allegations, stating there is "no factual basis" for her claims. They note that "The Thinker" specimen has been on continuous display since 2004 - eight years before Christopher's 2012 death.
The company stated: "We extend our sympathy to the family, but the referenced specimen cannot be associated with the individual named in these claims. All specimens are ethically sourced and biologically unidentifiable." They added that bodies are typically sourced from China.
Despite these denials, Kim remains unconvinced and haunted by the image of the display. With the body's current location unclear, she fears Christopher's remains could be among hundreds of unclaimed cremated remains found in Nevada earlier this year.
"Chris was never abandoned in life, and I don't want him abandoned in death either," she said, determined to continue her fight for answers about what truly happened to her son.
