Episode 16: Parts is Parts
Dr. Roland Kohr Shares a Thanksgiving Mystery on The Kohroner Chronicles
Dr. Roland Kohr, longtime forensic pathologist and host of the Kohroner Chronicles podcast, is no stranger to serious and sometimes chilling stories. But in a recent episode, he recounted a case that brought unexpected humor, involving hearts, pranks, and an unforgettable Thanksgiving Day.
A Midwest Prank Takes a Bizarre Turn
As Dr. Kohr explained, mischievous pranks have long been a Halloween tradition across the Midwest, such as lighting a bag of dog feces on fire on someone’s porch. But one year, a prankster raised the stakes.
Instead of a flaming bag, homeowners in Terre Haute found an unlit paper sack containing a piece of meat. Upon closer inspection, they realized they were staring at what appeared to be a heart, possibly a human one. Alarmed, they immediately called 911.
First Stop: The ER — And More Questions
Police arrived quickly and retrieved the strange specimen. With the hour growing late, officers took the heart to Union Hospital’s emergency room, hoping an ER doctor could identify it.
However, as Dr. Kohr noted, ER doctors rarely handle whole human hearts outside of very specialized fields like open heart and transplant surgery or autopsy pathology. The doctor on duty admitted he couldn’t tell if it was human, and recommended they call the coroner.
The task fell to Dr. Kohr, who arranged to meet officers the next morning at the hospital.
A Heart, But Not Human
The next morning, Dr. Kohr examined the mysterious heart in the hospital morgue. Several features immediately stood out: the heart weighed roughly 800 grams, far heavier than a normal adult human heart, which averages 350 to 400 grams. Although diseased human hearts can grow larger, this specimen showed no signs of disease.
The size, structure, and lack of typical human markers led Dr. Kohr to conclude it came from an animal, likely a cow, deer or hog. The mystery appeared solved, and everyone moved on — or so they thought.
A Thanksgiving Day Repeat
One month later, on Thanksgiving morning, Terre Haute police got another strange call. A similar bag had been found on the doorstep of a McDonald’s again containing a large heart.
Despite the earlier incident, officers first took the new specimen back to Union Hospital. As before, the ER staff could not determine if it was human and quickly recommended calling Dr. Kohr.
Unfortunately, Dr. Kohr was home, while his wife prepared a large Thanksgiving dinner for extended family. “Being that it’s Thanksgiving, I’m not coming to the hospital today,” he told them. “If you want this looked at before Monday, you’ll have to bring it to my house.”
A Thanksgiving Autopsy — At Home
Police arrived at Dr. Kohr’s house later that morning, probably causing neighbors to cast curious glances at the unexpected holiday police visit. Dr. Kohr carefully examined the heart in one of his home’s bathrooms, far from the food preparation at his wife’s insistence.
Without a professional scale, he relied on experience, noting again the abnormal size and other non-human characteristics. A few surgical cuts with a kitchen knife confirmed his suspicion: it was another non-human heart.
He promised police he would properly dispose of it after the holiday, cleaned up his tools, and rejoined his family festivities, much to his wife’s relief.
A Case of Strange Humor
Reflecting on the double-heart prank, Dr. Kohr quipped that perhaps it had been an ill-conceived promotional stunt for a new "McHeart" sandwich. Likely, it was simply a prank that spiraled into an unusual Thanksgiving story, one he still chuckles about today.
“Sometimes,” Dr. Kohr said, “people’s weird sense of humor ends up bleeding into the coroner’s office in ways we could never anticipate.”