Body Worlds Art Exhibit

The preserved remains of a 13-week-old fetus, part of a traveling international exhibit of human bodies and body parts, was stolen from the California Science Center by two young women captured on videotape, police said Tuesday. The women appeared to wait for the crowd to thin at the round-the-clock exhibit before one reached into a plexiglass case and took the 4-inch specimen just before 3 a.m. Saturday, police said.

The preserved remains of a 13-week-old fetus, part of a traveling international exhibit of human bodies and body parts, was stolen from the California Science Center by two young women captured on videotape, police said Tuesday. The women appeared to wait for the crowd to thin at the round-the-clock exhibit before one reached into a plexiglass case and took the 4-inch specimen just before 3 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Stacy Estrada's reaction was immediate and intense. With hand to mouth, she stared in disbelief at the sight before her: a 300-pound cadaver, dissected lengthwise, showing a thick layer of fat around its midsection and surrounding its vital organs. "Look at this!" she said, hand still over mouth. "This is all fat!" "He had a pacemaker," a woman next to her noted, pointing to the small metallic device embedded in his chest. Her voice dripping with irony, she added, "I wonder why."

Stacy Estrada's reaction was immediate and intense. With hand to mouth, she stared in disbelief at the sight before her: a 300-pound cadaver, dissected lengthwise, showing a thick layer of fat around its midsection and surrounding its vital organs. "Look at this!" she said, hand still over mouth. "This is all fat!" "He had a pacemaker," a woman next to her noted, pointing to the small metallic device embedded in his chest. Her voice dripping with irony, she added, "I wonder why."

One week from today, West Los Angeles resident Betty Berdiansky, a computer project coordinator at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will be among 17 U.S. "body donors" who will board a plane for Heidelberg, Germany, on an all-expense-paid visit to tour the facility where their bodies will eventually be preserved for possible display in "Body Worlds," an anatomical exhibition on view at the California Science Center.

One week from today, West Los Angeles resident Betty Berdiansky, a computer project coordinator at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will be among 17 U.S. "body donors" who will board a plane for Heidelberg, Germany, on an all-expense-paid visit to tour the facility where their bodies will eventually be preserved for possible display in "Body Worlds," an anatomical exhibition on view at the California Science Center.