A couple from Springfield, Missouri, suffered the loss of a baby who was stillborn.
Then their grief was exacerbated by their hospital, CoxHealth, losing their child's remains.
Brianna and Kyle Dudley's son Lucas was born four months pre-mature and, sadly, had no heartbeat after being delivered.
The Dudleys agreed to leave Lucas' remains with the hospital staff for testing, hoping to find out what went wrong.
When they were called by the hospital a week later, the staff there had no answers for them...only a very mysterious encounter.
KY3 reported the incredibly strange story:
"Multiple hospital officials sat them down and showed them a video of a man in a hoodie wearing dark sunglasses going into the morgue and walking out with a bulge in his pocket. They believed it was Lucas's body."
CoxHealth discovered Lucas's remains were gone on November 14 and began investigating.
Once they found the strange footage, the hospital contacted the authorities.
The man caught on camera allegedly stealing Lucas's body was reportedly known by hospital staff as a contractor who occasionally "transported human remains."
The Dudleys are now pursuing legal action against the hospital.
"Lucas didn't deserve this. We didn't deserve this, and for somebody to just do something like this is beyond me, because it's a baby."
"And it makes me wonder if it's this easy for somebody to take a body under hospital care, how easy is it for somebody to get into a nursery?"
Police weren't willing to comment on an ongoing investigation, but CoxHealth commented that the hospital is "continuing its own exhaustive internal review to more deeply explore policies, practices, video footage and any other additional information that might be helpful in the police investigation."
CoxHealth also commented in a full statement:
"On Nov. 14, we became aware that the remains of a stillborn infant were unaccounted for in the morgue at Cox South."
"Our staff immediately began an internal investigation of the situation. After reviewing video and other information, suspicious activity was identified that caused us to notify law enforcement for investigation."
"We have turned the matter over to the Springfield Police Department, which is conducting an investigation. CoxHealth is also continuing its own exhaustive internal review to more deeply explore policies, practices, video footage and any other additional information that might be helpful in the police investigation."
"As soon as law enforcement's investigation permitted, CoxHealth's leadership team met with the family to share information related to this incident. Because this is an ongoing investigation and a law enforcement matter, we are unable to provide additional information at this point."
Brianna Dudley is just hoping to find a way to make things right.
"We were planning on having a cremation for him and a way to honor his life because he was very loved and important to us. And we can't do that now."
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
