A woman in Texas has raised serious questions after alleging that her son, who died in 2012, is among the plastinated cadavers displayed at a Las Vegas anatomy exhibition. Kim Erick Smith says her son, 23-year-old Christopher Todd Erick, whose death was ruled undetermined, is the figure known in the exhibit as “The Thinker”. The exhibition, REAL BODIES…The Exhibition, operated by Imagine Exhibitions, Inc. at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, denies the claim.
According to fact-checking by the website Lead Stories, the specimen in question has reportedly been on display since at least 2004, eight years before Erick’s death. Erick was found dead at his grandmother’s house in Midlothian, Texas, on 10 November 2012; the amended death certificate lists cause of death as cyanide toxicity alongside an anomalous coronary artery and aortic dissection, and the medical examiner ruled the manner of death as “undetermined”.
Erick’s mother, Kim, disputes the official findings and has publicly alleged that her son was murdered and his body trafficked into the exhibition. In a petition on the website Change.org she states: “He was posed as ‘The Thinker’ at REAL BODIES…The Exhibition @ Bally’s in Las Vegas, Nevada.” The petition further claims that during the process of plastination the chest tattoo Erick had was removed, leaving what his mother describes as a “cookie cutter” image, and that his skull injury is reflected in the figure on display. The petition calls for DNA testing to “properly identify” the displayed body and to lay the remains to rest.
Kim has publicly posted that she first learned of the exhibition and the possible display of her son’s body in 2018. In a Facebook posting on 5 March 2025, she linked to a 2018 article and wrote “‘this is where I saw Chris’ body for the first time. The article also mentions torture….” She asserts that after raising her suspicions, the specimen was quietly moved from Las Vegas to Union City, Tennessee and is now missing.