Severe woman charged with smuggling after human head found in her luggage.

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USATODAY.com - Woman charged with smuggling after human head found in luggage

From the eeww gross department -

Ms. Severe was bringing the head into the US from Haiti to ward off evil spirits as part of her Voodoo practice. Maybe it's just me, but schlepping a decomposing human head around with you seems more of an invitation to bad juju than a defense against it...

I'm not one to make fun of anyone's religious beliefs. Er... OK - so I do, but I exempt fundies of all stripes from the "no fun-making" clause. (All stripes meaning the Taliban all the way to James Dobson.)

My favorite part of the article is the list of charges filed against her -

"The criminal complaint filed Friday charges Severe with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation, failure to declare the head and transporting hazardous material in air commerce."

It begs the question - do you use Customs Form 1089 or 1089a to properly document that human head you scored on vacation?

After reading the story I had the chilling realization that Ms. Severe and I have something in common.

(Before you run shrieking into the night, let me explain.)

I transported human remains (well, cremains or ashes) in my checked luggage without declaring them after my Stepmother's memorial service. I had no idea it was a crime.

Truth really is stranger than fiction - if I wrote this story and made her name be "Severe", no one would buy it - way too on the nose...