Share this @internewscast.com
Left: The Wicked Wonderland shop in Orange City, Fla. (Facebook). Right: Kymberlee Schopper (Volusia County Jail).
A Florida woman who runs a curio shop was allegedly selling something a little too authentic for law enforcement — real human remains.
Kymberlee Schopper, aged 52, co-owns Wicked Wonderland, a unique shop located in Orange City, Florida. While the store is known for its unusual and intriguing collection of goods, law enforcement officials have charged Schopper with the illegal activity of selling “genuine human remains.”
An arrest warrant uncovered by WOFL, a local Fox news station, indicated that Schopper’s business associate “confirmed the store’s possession of multiple human bone fragments, all acquired from individual sellers.”
According to police, Schopper allegedly claimed the bone fragments were parts of “educational models,” for which she had documentation.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal disclosed that the investigation began in December 2023 after a local resident informed the police about Wicked Wonderland’s sale of actual bone fragments through its Facebook Marketplace. The arrest warrant stated that officers discovered several items listed as “human” bone fragments available for purchase on the platform.
The warrant included the items and prices of several different kinds of bone fragments: Two human skull fragments, $90; human clavicle and scapula, $90; human rib, $35; human vertebrae, $35; and a partial human skull, $600.
When questioned by police after the report was filed, Schopper’s business partner Ashley Lelesi reportedly told officers that the shop had been knowingly selling human bones for several years. According to the warrant, Lelesi “confirmed that the store had multiple human bone fragments, all purchased from private sellers, and mentioned she has documentation for these transactions but could not provide it at that moment. She described the bones as genuine human remains and delicate in nature.”
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that Lelesi was “nervous” during the police’s visit, and that she did not know that selling human remains was against the law.
When authorities questioned Schopper, she reportedly told them that the remains were “educational models,” which were legal to sell under Florida law. But Orange City Police Captain Sherif El-Shami told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that no matter where the remains were purchased, it was still illegal to sell them in Florida.
The paper reported that Lelesi will also face charges but has not been arrested yet.
The bones, per the arrest affidavit, were confiscated by police and brought to the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office where they were examined and analyzed. WOFL reported that the skull fragment and partial skull were likely archaeological finds. Other bone fragments were estimated to be 100 and 500 years old.
The investigators concluded their report by determining that “Schopper knowingly purchased and listed human bones for sale through Facebook Marketplace and their business website.”
After a 15-month long investigation into Wicked Wonderland’s “oddities,” Schopper was charged with the purchase or sale of human tissue, a felony. She was booked into the Volusia County Jail on April 10 and posted $7,500 bond. Schopper is scheduled to be arraigned on May 1.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
