By Tim Binnall
Florida authorities have charged a curio shop owner for allegedly selling an array of human bones at her store. According to a local media report, the creepy case began in late 2023 when cops in the community of Orange City learned of some rather unusual items offered online by local business Wicked Wonderland. Specifically, police say, the curio shop was advertising various human bones, including skull fragments, vertebrae, and a rib that could be purchased through their website.
When an officer visited the store to investigate, one of the co-owners indicated that they had long sold such macabre pieces with the belief that such a practice did not violate any state laws. Unfortunately for them, it would appear they were misinformed. An affidavit for the case noted that the shop owner told police that the bones were "all purchased from private sellers" and that they were "genuine human remains."
Cops seized the contraband items for testing and, in a later meeting with authorities, the owners asserted that the materials were outside the purview of the law because they were "educational models." A subsequent forensic examination of the bones by experts contradicted that claim as it was found that all but the vertebrae were, indeed, centuries-old human remains that had likely been unearthed by archaeologists. As a result, authorities charged the curio shop's primary owner, Kymberlee Schopper, with the gruesome-sounding crime of "trading in human tissue" last week.