'Live fish' container holds human body

A shipment of exotic fish, destined for a pet store in Northeast Philadelphia, was exotic in a wholly different way.

Because of a communications mix-up yesterday with US Airways, the box turned out to hold the body of a California man who died last week and had willed his body to medical researchers trying to unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease.

According to Philadelphia police, an employee from Pets Plus USA, a locally owned chain of pet stores, went to the US Airways cargo facility near Philadelphia International Airport on Monday night to retrieve three boxes holding the live fish. But he didn't have proper identification to get through airport security.

"He was really upset because he was afraid the fish were going to die," police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said.

Yesterday, Vanore said, another employee returned to the airport and was told the shipment was in one heavy box, which the cargo crew put in his vehicle. "Once they loaded his Jeep, he just left," Vanore said.

Back at the Pets Plus store at 9902 Roosevelt Blvd., the employee signaled Mark Arabia, co-owner of the chain with his brother, Ray.

"My brother happened to be there, and he runs all the fish operations," Ray Arabia said last night. "The employee said, 'You need to see this. They shipped the fish in a different box this time.' "

Mark Arabia "knew right away that something was wrong," his brother said. "We've never got a 7-foot box of fish."

Without opening the box, the store staff contacted police, who determined by documentation that a body was inside the shipment. It was the body of Jon Kenoyer of Santee, Calif., about 20 miles from San Diego, and was en route to LifeQuest Anatomical, a whole-body donor program for medical-research scientists.

"Everybody makes mistakes, you know," Mary Ellen Kenoyer said in a phone interview last night. "I don't know what happened at the airport, but everyone treated [the shipment] with respect. They didn't open it up."

She said her husband's body would have an escort to Allentown, although police could not confirm that last night.

"Regrettably," said a statement by US Airways, whose luggage-delivery system at Philadelphia International has been less than exemplary at times, "there was an unfortunate mix-up . . . due to a verbal miscommunication between a delivery driver and the cargo representative. We are working to rectify the situation and are deeply sorry."

An airline spokesman said last night that "we're trying to make it right for everybody involved."

Later yesterday, when Pets Plus retrieved the three boxes of tropical fish, "we opened them up, and they were all dead," Ray Arabia said.

"This isn't the first time," he said, "but it's happened numerous times, for years and years and years, when fish get lost." The fish shipments come through US Airways, he said.

Mary Ellen Kenoyer said her husband, a stockbroker who became a postal delivery agent, died at age 55 on Friday and had first been diagnosed with an early onset of Alzheimer's - a brain disorder that affects about five million Americans - five years ago.

She was concerned yesterday that a hubbub over the unusual mix-up - news spread instantly over Internet sites, she said - would have a negative effect on donors who wanted to will their bodies to research.

"Anything we could do to help, we wanted to do," she said of the decision to ship her husband's body to scientists, "and this was the way to do it. We need to find a cure for this."

She said her husband, when he was well, was a practical joker who pulled capers on her and their three sons frequently. At first, when she heard what had happened, "I thought this was his last practical joke," she said.