TOPSFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) – For a Topsfield family, the grief of losing their son was compounded by a series of devastating discoveries: their loved one was buried brainless after an unexpected autopsy.

Kevin Magee died on October 27, 2023, after battling a traumatic brain injury and other health effects from a life-changing car accident 30 years earlier, in 1993, when he was 17 years old.

In the days after Kevin’s death, his mother, Gail Magee, was making arrangements for her late son when she learned that his remains were not at the funeral home. Rather, the medical examiner had picked up the remains for an autopsy which was ordered.

When Gail Magee got the news from the funeral director, the autopsy was already done.

“I don’t know why they didn’t call me. They had my name, they had my phone number, we’re Kevin’s legal guardians,” she said.

In Massachusetts, the state does not require consent to perform an autopsy. Gail Magee said she is confused why they made one for her son because his accident happened 30 years before his death.

“I felt that for 30 years he suffered so much and then finally when he goes, let him rest in peace. I could understand if they found him on the side of the road, there’s a reason to do an autopsy. There was no reason to do an autopsy on Kevin,” Magee said.

She believes misinformation and lack of communication led to the autopsy. The Office of the Massachusetts Medical Examiner (OCME) declined to comment on the autopsy or who ordered it.

Months later, Gail Magee got another surprise.

In late January 2024, she received the autopsy results. Her medical background as a nurse led her to ask the medical examiner if all of Kevin’s body parts had been returned, especially his brain. Then, months after he was buried, Gail was told that her son’s brain was still in the coroner’s office.

“They butchered him. He couldn’t even rest in peace after 30 years. And his brain, which is the whole soul of your being, cut it out and think it’s sitting in a jar at the coroner’s office, and I wouldn’t even know about it,” she expressed.

Gail Magee said she was told Kevin’s brain was being held back for further tests.

“If they’re keeping your loved one’s body parts, especially your child’s, they should call you to tell you that,” Magee said. “It’s just unfathomable. It’s unbelievable that they would do that and it’s just wrong that they do business like this.”

Although consent is not required for the state to perform an autopsy, the medical examiner’s office must inform the person receiving the body if organs are withheld. This information is provided in a letter that the state issues to the funeral home handling the services. The funeral home then forwards the letter to family members.

“It’s very vague. We are the person passing by. Frequently, this will be given to the family, whether they read it, the absorption at that time is not necessarily our responsibility,” said funeral home owner Barbra Kazmierczak. “It’s a difficult time when they get that letter and there’s a lot going on in their head and a letter from OCME is probably not their priority.”

This letter was provided to the funeral home handling Kevin’s service.

7 Investigates has obtained a copy of that letter. The letter is not personalized with individual details for families, nor are the specifics of what, if any, biological samples were withheld.

The letter says that “a full internal examination (autopsy) may be required” and “the physician may take and store biological samples.” The letter goes on to say the materials are “removed after a matter of time,” but families can request the items be released.

“I think communication is limited for whatever reason, and I think there needs to be more open lines of communication,” Kazmierczak said of OCME. “A letter covers you, but it is not always read and interpreted correctly.”

Gail Magee believes that because of vague communication from the state, she never would have known her son’s brain had been withheld if she hadn’t asked.

“I don’t think most people have any idea this is happening,” she said.

7 Investigations found that the state removed and retained 685 brains between 2021-2024. Of these, 15 were released back to their families.

“I think it’s a major violation. I think most people would do just as well if you’re talking about their heart or their brain,” said George Annas, director of Boston University’s Center for Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights. “It shouldn’t happen. There’s no reason for that to happen.”

Annas said the letter given to Massachusetts families is not transparent enough and places an unreasonable burden on grieving families to uncover details.

“A letter is not enough,” he said. “It shouldn’t be anything else that families have to make sure that all of their loved one’s body parts are returned by the coroner.”

The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Officer said in a statement that it cannot comment on specific cases, but that it is committed to “providing the highest level of forensic pathology and death investigation services, including ensuring the effective and efficient communication of vital information through established protocols and procedures.”

Annas suggests that improvements to communication at OCME could include the office taking the time to send families an individualized email or phone call.

“It should be the coroner’s job to make sure the family knows what’s going on,” Annas said. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

The mages were able to retrieve Kevin’s brain and bury it at his grave, but they are still looking for changes.

“I just want responsibility. I want to know that they have made some changes so that this does not happen to others. They just need to be more transparent with their practices and policies,” Gail Magee said.

For the Magees, the change won’t erase the trauma they faced while grieving the death of Kevin — a kid who loved to play hockey, always active with a smile on his face — but Gail believes changes to the system could save a future family more pain. .

“It’s not going to comfort me, it’s not going to change what happened, but I feel like the public needs to know, so maybe they can ask questions and know that this is going on and it might help someone else not have the same agony. that we’ve been through,” Magee said.

Magi encourage people whose family member is undergoing an autopsy to ask the coroner questions, including why the autopsy was performed, if anything was taken, and what will be done with it.

7 New’s Maren Halpin contributed to this report.

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