Mum told son took his own life shocked to 'discover his body on display in museum'

Warning: contains graphic imagery and upsetting themes

A mother is adamant that a body on display in a museum is her son, and she fears there is a conspiracy to cover up his death.

Kim Erick felt her blood run cold when she saw the Real Bodies exhibition in Las Vegas and noticed that the body she was looking at bore a striking resemblance to her son, Chris Todd Erick.

Chris had passed away aged 23 in 2012, with his death ruled a suicide. Initially, it was believed he suffered two heart attacks in his sleep caused by a heart defect at his grandmother's home.

But Kim thinks differently after asking the police for case materials, which she alleges contained images of a chair with straps attached.

She explained how her ex, Chris’ dad, had handled his cremation due to her grief, and she was given a necklace with a small amount of ashes inside days after her son’s body was found.

But Kim claims there was no funeral, and she contacted the Midlothian Police Department for the photos taken at the scene.

She claimed Chris had been covered in bruises and lacerations when he died and said there was noticeable dry cyanide salt on his lips.

After much pleading, the examiner tested a vial of his blood to appease her and shockingly found a lethal dose of cyanide in his system.

This changed his cause of death to cyanide toxicity.

In 2014, a grand jury in Ellis County District launched a murder probe to find out if Chris was given cyanide, but couldn’t prove he was killed.

So, his death was ruled a suicide by ‘undetermined means’ and the Midlothian Police Department confirmed there were no signs of foul play in Chris' death.

With so many questions, Kim was left with the feeling that she knew exactly what had happened to Chris when she saw a plastinated body called the ‘Thinker’ at the Real Bodies display online in 2018.

The exhibition, held at the Horseshoe hotel, put 20 perfectly preserved human specimens on display to give visitors an immersive view into human anatomy and physiology

The 54-year-old told The Sun: “I knew it was him. It was so unbelievably painful to look at. My words cannot describe how this shook me and my family to its core.

“I was actually looking at pictures of my son’s skinned, butchered body. It is gut-wrenching.”

With the belief that the exhibition was displaying her son, she has now asked the exhibit to conduct DNA testing on the body.

Kim says: “As Chris’ mother, I recognise everything about him. Nothing was adding up. I needed to know the truth about what happened to my son.

“It took years of research. There were many steps I took before realising Chris might be one of the plastinated bodies.

“I started looking online for the deep skull fracture I saw in Chris’s right temple of his head when he died.

“When I saw the plastinated body online in the news article with this same skull fracture… it was too painful to look closer.”

She also alleges the area where Chris sported a tattoo had been shaved down to conceal the identity of the body.

The Real Bodies exhibit in Las Vegas told The Sun that ‘there is no factual basis for these allegations’, adding: “We extend our sympathy to the family, but the referenced specimen cannot be associated with the individual named in these claims.”

The exhibit also says that the body Kim believes is her son has actually been on display for 20 years, long before Chris' death, and was bought from China.

In a statement to Lead Stories, Imagine Exhibitions, Inc, which owns Real Bodies, said: "We extend our sympathy to the family, but there is no factual basis for these allegations. The referenced specimen has been on continuous display in Las Vegas since 2004 and cannot be associated with the individual named in these claims.

"All specimens are ethically sourced and biologically unidentifiable. We remain committed to ensuring that all exhibits meet the highest ethical and legal standards."

Since Kim brought up her fears to the exhibition organiser, she alleged the body was moved Union City, Tennessee.

“There is no evidence that the body ever arrived in Tennessee, and it has not been seen since,” she said. “Chris was never abandoned in life, and I don’t want him abandoned in death either.

“I know Chris is gone and there is no fixing that, but the remains of his body are important to us.”

Now that she can’t track the body, she has considered the fact that Chris could be one of the hundreds of piles of cremated remains found in Nevada earlier this year.

LADbible has contacted Real Bodies for further comment.