The mother of Chris Todd Erick has revealed a new and deeply disturbing theory about what may have happened to her son’s remains – just days after a Las Vegas museum publicly refuted her belief that his body was being displayed in its exhibition.
Chris died in 2012 at age 23.
While his death was initially ruled a suicide, his mother, Kim Erick, long insisted that her son had been murdered.
A 2014 investigation later confirmed Chris had died from cyanide toxicity, but with no evidence of foul play, authorities ultimately classified the case as a suicide by “undetermined means.”
The ‘Real Bodies’ Exhibit That Reignited Kim's Fears
Kim’s grief resurfaced in 2018 when she visited the Real Bodies anatomical exhibit and became convinced that a plastinated figure known as The Thinker was actually her son's skinned remains.
“I knew it was him,” she told The Sun.
“Looking at that body shook me and my family to our core. It was gut-wrenching.”
She requested DNA testing of the specimen, hoping to confirm her suspicions.
Todd Erick. Credit: Find A Grave.
Museum Says the Body Predates Chris’s Death
However, the company behind the exhibit, Imagine Exhibitions, Inc., strongly denied her claims.
They stated that the plastinated body has been on display since 2004, eight years before Chris died, and therefore cannot be linked to him.
“All specimens are ethically sourced and biologically unidentifiable,” the company told Lead Stories, adding that they follow strict ethical and legal guidelines.
With the exhibit theory dismissed, Kim says she has been forced to confront new, even darker possibilities.
Kim’s New Fear: Is Chris Among the 315 Mystery Cremated Remains?
One of the most troubling elements of Chris’s death, Kim says, is that she never saw her son’s body after he passed.
She claims her ex-partner – Chris’s father – arranged for an immediate cremation while she was overcome with grief, leaving her with no closure and no physical confirmation.
Real Bodies' 'The Thinker'. Credit: Change.org.
Now, after her museum suspicions have been ruled out, Kim has turned her attention to a recent case involving 315 unidentified piles of cremated remains found in Nevada earlier this year.
In July, a passerby discovered heaps of human ash near Searchlight, about an hour south of Las Vegas. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently investigating the origin of the remains.
“I’d like to see the 300 piles of human cremains tested for DNA to determine who these people were,” Kim said, suggesting her son’s remains may be among them.
Authorities have not linked Chris’s case to the Nevada remains, and there is no evidence at this time that he is among them.
Still, Kim says she won’t stop searching for answers until she knows what truly happened to her son – and where his remains ended up.