NBCU News Group was recently awarded two 2026 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards for investigative reporting in NBC News’ “Dealing the Dead” series and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth’s “Driven to Death” series. These investigations uncovered systemic failures and prompted reform at the state and local level.
When NBC News reporters began examining what happens to unclaimed bodies, their investigation uncovered a system operating largely out of public view, prompted major reforms at a Texas medical school and later earned them the prestigious duPont-Columbia Award recognizing excellence in reporting.
The series, “Dealing the Dead,” revealed how the University of North Texas Health Science Center received unclaimed bodies, dissected them and leased body parts to medical companies, universities and even the U.S. Army — often without families knowing their loved ones had died.
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (KXAS) won its third duPont–Columbia Award for “Driven to Death,” a 14-month investigation into the high number of traffic deaths in Dallas. Led by Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman, the team looked at Texas Department of Transportation crash data and found that deadly and serious crashes kept happening on the same roads, many with old designs, high speed limits and little protection for pedestrians.
NBCU Academy spoke with “Dealing the Dead” reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Jon Schuppe and correspondent Liz Kreutz about how their investigation unfolded and why it resonated. This conversation has been edited for brevity.
How did the reporting begin?
“Our colleague Susy Carroll got a tip about a medical school in North Texas that was using unclaimed bodies for medical research,” said Schuppe. “They were basically cutting up the bodies and leasing out the parts.”
Through public records requests, the team built a database of thousands of names.
“Susy and Mike began researching through FOIA requests, public documents, how that money was getting spent, what body parts were being chopped up and leased out, who those people were, where it was going,” said Schuppe. “And from that massive database that they compiled, we started looking into who the people were in the cases we want to focus on, bringing a human element to the story.”
What made this practice troubling?
While medical research using donated bodies is legal and often necessary, Schuppe said the lack of consent stood out.
“There was no full understanding of whether their families would have consented,” he said.
The reporting process took months, including compiling records and cold-calling relatives.
“You need to be deliberate,” Schuppe said. “Make sure you have all your facts straight. People respond in very different ways. You have to be patient.”
In some cases, the reporters were the first to inform families.
“I delivered the news that he was dead and that this medical school had used his body for medical research,” Hixenbaugh said of one call. “Those moments are hard, but they make the work worth it.”
Why publish the full list of names?
The team ultimately published the names of thousands of people whose bodies had been transferred to the medical school.
“The simple act of publishing the names gives families an opportunity to find them,” Hixenbaugh said.
After the story aired on “NBC Nightly News,” relatives began reaching out. One viewer discovered his brother’s name on the list after seeing the report.
“He said, ‘I loved my brother, and he did not deserve to be treated this way,’” Kreutz recalled.
How did digital and broadcast work together?
Condensing thousands of words into television segments required focus.
“If you’re lucky, you get two minutes on “Nightly,” Kreutz said. “Each of our pieces ranged from three to five minutes — that was not the norm.”
For the first piece, she said, the most striking detail was that one man’s leg was sold for $300, his torso and skull bones sent elsewhere — all while his family had no idea.
“It was the interviews that ultimately made the pieces what they were,” she said.
What changed — and what does the award mean?
Even before the stories’ publication, the University of North Texas began taking action, including firing staff and putting the program on hold.
“When we laid out how families reacted — how heartbroken they were — the medical school changed course,” Hixenbaugh said. “That’s the power of telling a human story.”
For the team members, the duPont Award is validation — and a tribute to their late colleague Susy Carroll.
“This project and this award are extra special,” Hixenbaugh said. “It’s an honor to her legacy.”
Schuppe said the impact is what matters most: “This gave people answers. It gave people a voice. And it changed things so this will happen to far fewer people in the future.”
