What do they do?

So I was wondering, what do people do when they have a family member who is dead but only a few parts are found?

There's a story I read about a man beheaded and terrorists kept his head. It was found when police did a raid of an apartment, wrapped in plastic in a freezer with weapons. I understand they never found the body, but what did they do with the head?

Several cases in the news came up when all they found was a head, no body. Sometimes a body, no head. If it's just a head, what do they do with it? Bury it? Burn it? Keep it?

In most cases body parts are buried - heads, feet whatever comes up.

I was wondering about something similar. What would they do to body parts, say, if your arm gets amputated? Is it treated like a medical waste?

In most countries, amputated body parts are treated like medical waste and incinerated. In some, they can be donated for study at medical schools. At the low end, some of the parts have found their way into transplant programs. Some funeral home operators in this country were discovered to be harvesting parts of their customers and even replacing bones with sticks. There is money to be made in black market body parts.

Snerdguy said:

In most countries, amputated body parts are treated like medical waste and incinerated. In some, they can be donated for study at medical schools.

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That's what I thought.

Snerdguy said:

At the low end, some of the parts have found their way into transplant programs. Some funeral home operators in this country were discovered to be harvesting parts of their customers and even replacing bones with sticks. There is money to be made in black market body parts.

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I believe there was a case in NY. A couple from Ohio bought funeral homes in there and found out such practices. I think one of the victims was a some kind of journalist.

Snerdguy said:

In most countries, amputated body parts are treated like medical waste and incinerated. In some, they can be donated for study at medical schools. At the low end, some of the parts have found their way into transplant programs. Some funeral home operators in this country were discovered to be harvesting parts of their customers and even replacing bones with sticks. There is money to be made in black market body parts.

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You seem to know quite a bit on the matter.

Sad but a fact of life - body parts are sold, esp bones from dead people.

In the morgue in Sofia they took out the bones of healthy young guys, put plastic tubes in their legs and gave them to the family for funeral.

One mother discovered and to keep her mouth shut the chief of the morgue gave her around $600.

Bone dust from here travelled to the US, police wanted to investigate but the chief medical examined has friends in high places and they helped him cover up the case.

This was last year.

Also they took out corneas and sold them for transplants.

One mother received her dead son with corneas removed, kidneys taken etc, the press were all over it.