After an NBC News investigation revealed that unclaimed bodies in Dallas were being sent to a local university for research or sold to private companies, one Venezuelan mother’s heartbreak worsened.
She says she has lost the chance to give her daughter a proper burial... Continue reading here ▶
The investigation shared the story of Arelis Coromoto Villegas, who has spent years trying to bring her daughter’s body back to Venezuela.
Her daughter, Aurimar Iturriago Villegas, was just 21 years old when she was killed in October 2022 during a road rage incident in Texas. A man fired a gun into the back window of the car Aurimar was riding in, hitting her in the head.
Aurimar, a Venezuelan migrant, had arrived in Texas just a month earlier after living briefly in Colombia. She was classified as “unclaimed” by Texas officials after her death, which meant her body was sent to the University of North Texas Health Science Center. There, unclaimed bodies are dissected by students or sold to private companies for research and training purposes.
NBC News uncovered that Aurimar’s torso was sold to a biotechnology company, Relievant Medsystems, to train medical staff, while her legs were dissected by students. The rest of her remains were cremated and sent to the Dallas County medical examiner’s office. Her family, who believed her body was still intact and waiting to be repatriated, only learned what happened when NBC published the names of unclaimed bodies, including Aurimar’s.
“It’s so painful,” Arelis said from Venezuela. “She wasn’t some little animal to be butchered and cut apart.”
Aurimar’s family had raised thousands of dollars to bring her body back for a proper burial, but they lost contact with Dallas County officials. They were devastated to see her name in the NBC report. “Every night I ask, ‘God, why did you take my daughter?’” Arelis said. “I can’t accept her death, not yet.”
Aurimar’s brother, Yohandry Martinez Villegas, shared how she had always worked hard to support her family. She dropped out of school at 16 and took odd jobs to help financially. After working in Colombia, she decided to join six other migrants on a dangerous journey to the U.S. She arrived in Texas in September 2022 and stayed with friends in Dallas until her tragic death a month later.
For Arelis, the discovery of what happened to her daughter’s body was a shock. She feels there’s little hope of recovering the remains, as communication with officials has been sparse.
“Even though it breaks my soul,” Arelis said, “I think I’m going to give up and leave it in God’s hands.”
