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N.J. woman who arranged buttock injection had had the procedure

A New Jersey woman who once received buttock-enhancing injections was the go-between who arranged the same procedure for Claudia Seye Aderotimi, an aspiring British actress. Police are now hunting for a second woman who they say handled the needles.

Claudia Seye Aderotimi, 20, died Monday, two days after she had been injected in a hotel room near Philadelphia International Airport. (Source: MySpace)
Claudia Seye Aderotimi, 20, died Monday, two days after she had been injected in a hotel room near Philadelphia International Airport. (Source: MySpace)Read more

A New Jersey woman who once received buttock-enhancing injections was the go-between who arranged the same procedure for Claudia Seye Aderotimi, an aspiring British actress. Police are now hunting for a second woman who they say handled the needles.

Aderotimi, 20, died Monday, two days after she had been injected in a hotel room near Philadelphia International Airport. It was her second trip here to receive the shots, billed as a way to change a person's physique without surgery.

On a British website for aspiring performers, Aderotimi called herself Carmella James, adding, "but Superstar is my middle name." She said she had been a back-up dancer for two musical performers and appeared in a short-lived television comedy.

Aderotimi got far more publicity in death than she had in life. British newspapers have published stories about her life and death and have sent reporters to Philadelphia.

Investigators spent part of Wednesday interviewing the Saddle River, N.J., woman who they said set up the Saturday appointment through e-mails and telephone calls, and was in the hotel room while the injections were administered. She has not been charged.

A search warrant was executed on her New Jersey home Tuesday night, Philadelphia Police Lt. Ray Evers said. Various "electronic items" were removed, police said Wednesday.

The second woman, who police say they believe performed the procedure, lives in the Philadelphia area. Evers would not say whether the two women previously worked together, but he said other clients might come forward. Aderotimi's earlier treatment was in November, Evers said.

Buttock injections are not legitimate medical treatments, but recent arrests in New York City and New Jersey, and frequently visited online chat rooms, indicate there is a market for them, sometimes promoted as less risky than legitimate surgical implants.

One recent message on a website called "Butt Injections" read: "If their anyone thats close to atlanta or Texas dat do good clean injections let me know . . . ."

On Monday, another person wrote, "It's like the biggest thing in California now! Girls are all going in for butt jobs so they can look like Kim Kardashian." Since 2008 there have been 2,167 postings.

Much remains unknown about Aderotimi's case, including what substance was injected into her buttocks and what role it played in her death. Silicone gel or liquid is often used, as is a product called hydrogel, made from protein and water. None of the procedures is approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Delaware County Medical Examiner Fredric Hellman said answering those questions would take weeks. "At this point, there are a number of studies that need to be conducted, everything from toxicology to histology to analysis of tissue required to address the type of agent being used," he said.

British reports said Aderotimi was a student, born in London of Nigerian parents. A reporter for the London newspaper the Daily Mail went to Aderotimi's sister's home in North London and reported a dozen friends and family had gathered there.

"We're still in shock," Vivian Aderotimi said. "We need to think about what we have to do." She declined further comment.

Claudia Aderotimi's mother, a health-care assistant at Homerton Hospital in East London, said she was too upset to speak about her daughter's death, according to the newspaper.

Family members from Britain are making arrangements to pick up Aderotimi's remains, Hellman said. She was a citizen of the United Kingdom, according to Hellman. Earlier reports gave an incorrect name, and a spokesman for the British Embassy said she was a legal resident but not a citizen.

Aderotimi was part of a group of four women, all in their 20s, who arrived Saturday. Two received injections.

According to the Daily Mirror, another British newspaper, Aderotimi died two weeks before her 21st birthday.

Aderotimi's last message on Twitter on Sunday said, "I'm goooonneeeeee so faR away."

On the TotalTalent website, she wrote: "I truly believe I can take the world by storm with my talents but I just need an agent to help the trough"

She described her personal interests as "Holidays, Music, Travel."

Aderotimi checked into the Hampton Inn on Bartram Avenue and on Monday was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital at 1:30 a.m. after complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath. She died later that day. The second woman, who received injections to her buttocks and hips, has not been hospitalized, police said.

In recent months, arrests for underground buttock enhancements have been made in New York City and North Jersey. Dozens of women have suffered infections, kidney impairment, and, in rare instances, death, according to federal health agencies.

Investigators from the FDA were at the Hampton Inn on Monday, and the agency has participated in other criminal investigations involving substances not approved for human use. A spokesman for the FDA criminal division declined to comment Wednesday.

The Philadelphia Police Department is the lead agency investigating the case.