LYNNFIELD — Cedric Lodge, the Harvard Medical School morgue manager who was charged with trafficking in human remains last week, is a Lynnfield High School graduate.
Lodge, 55, currently lives in Goffstown, N.H., and is a member of the school’s Class of 1985, having attended Lynnfield High School through the METCO program. At the time, he lived in Dorchester.
According to Facebook, Lodge attended the 30th reunion of the class, appearing in several photos from the event in 2015.
Former classmates described Lodge as a kind, quiet student in high school.
“He was a happy kid, he wasn’t a troublemaker or anything,” Kevin Garraway, who graduated with Lodge in 1985, said. “He was a good kid.”
Another former classmate of Lodge’s, who requested to remain anonymous due to fear of public backlash, said he remembered Lodge as being a nice and friendly student in classes with him. He said he found out about the situation from another former classmate.
“My mouth dropped. I was speechless,” the former classmate, who is also a member of the Class of 1985, said. “There were so many people in school where I could’ve said, ‘Oh, I could have totally seen that happening.’ He was not one of them. It came as a shock.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Lodge had been the manager of the Harvard Medical School Anatomical Gifts Program morgue since 1995.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on June 14 that Lodge and his wife, Denise, 63, were two of five people indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Lodge stole and sold organs and other human remains donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations from 2018 through 2022.
Katrina MacLean, 44, of Salem, was also indicted for her alleged role in the nationwide network of people who bought human remains from Lodge. Allegedly, Lodge at times allowed MacLean to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine bodies to determine what she wanted to purchase. MacLean’s Peabody store, Kat’s Creepy Creations, was raided by the FBI in March.
Garraway, who still lives in the area, said he and Lodge stayed in touch after high school and remain friends. He said he was shocked when he heard the news of Lodge’s indictment. Garraway said he wishes Lodge the best and wants to see how the situation plays out in the justice system before jumping to conclusions.
“I saw it on the news and, like most people, I was shocked,” Garraway, who lives in Boston, said. “He’s not a bad guy by any means, he’s just caught up in a bad situation.”
