Officials: Dead infants found in N. Philly alley were 'medical specimens'

THE MYSTERY behind the two infant corpses found dumped in a trash-strewn alley Sunday only deepened yesterday.

Those children, still nameless and ageless as of last night, had been dead for some time, officials said.

They were "medical specimens," the kind commonly donated to hospitals and medical schools to be studied by surgeons, according to Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the Medical Examiner's Office.

They had been preserved in formaldehyde, he added, and bore signs of an autopsy or some other medical examination. He stressed that the bodies hadn't come from the Medical Examiner's Office.

So who operated on the infants? And who callously tossed them into a lot on Palethorp Street near Montgomery Avenue in North Philadelphia?

Last night, police were working to answer those questions.

"It goes back to finding out what happened, how it is that two kids came to find the bodies," Lt. John Stanford, a police spokesman, said, referring to Kasime Crawford, 9, and his 12-year-old neighbor.

Those boys stumbled upon the cadavers amid busted TVs, empty bottles and other refuse Saturday evening in an alley behind a used-car lot.

Crawford's dad called police the next day after investigating what he initially thought was an exaggerated story.

Part of the police probe - being handled by the Special Victims Unit, given the age of its subjects - will focus on hospitals and other medical facilities in the area, Stanford said.

Detectives were also canvassing the area surrounding the lot for surveillance footage, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person who carried the bodies there.

It's clear that the babies were not the victims of foul play. Still, Stanford said, whoever's responsible could face criminal charges for abusing a corpse.

"That's not supposed to happen," he said. "This is bad all the way around."

The cause of death for the babies was unable to be determined, according to Moran, given their use as specimens. Witnesses said the bodies bore long, deep incisions on their abdomens and heads, similar to those used to extract organs out of corpses.

Investigators last night also were unsure how long the bodies had been sitting in the lot before the boys found them.

Police announced no suspects yesterday, but detectives were searching for the occupants of a black pickup truck, seen throwing trash near the alley where the bodies were found.

Tipsters should call 215-686-8477.

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