Shipment of Heads Intercepted

JUNE 17--A shipment of dozens of human heads was intercepted last week at an Arkansas airport after a Southwest Airlines worker flagged three "rubber tote containers" holding the human remains.

According to this Little Rock Police Department report, the containers were brought last Wednesday night to a Southwest cargo office by Alan Woods, a 25-year-old deliveryman. Since "the containers were not marked" as to what was" inside, Southwest employee Randy Stroud, 51, advised Woods that Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration regulations covering biohazard material required him to "see what was in the containers."

Upon inspection of the first container, Stroud discovered "a large red Bio Hazard bag...with several items wrapped in large absorbent pads." When Stroud realized the items were human heads, he called airport police.

The human remains were bound for the Fort Worth, Texas office of Medtronics, a medical research firm. The heads were later turned over by cops to the Pulaski County Coroner's Office, which is now examining the shipment of the remains, which were picked up by Woods at a private home in Conway. The coroner is investigating the source of the heads. (2 pages)