Stolen metal body parts recovered

   The Pinellas Sheriff's Office recently arrested two men in a bizarre crime, accusing them of stealing more than 2,000 pounds of artificial body parts and other "surgical hardware" from a cemetery and selling them for scrap for $5,416.

   Today there's an update: Richard Gates, the recycler who initially bought the scrap, has tracked the items down, paid to have them shipped back, and returned them to Memorial Park Cemetery -- all at his own expense. A sheriff's spokeswoman said he was playing the role of good Samaritan.

   The artificial body parts, items such as hip and shoulder replacements, contain metals such as titanium,cobalt and stainless steel. Rising metal prices have led to more and more thefts of scrap metals.

   -- Curtis Krueger, Times staff writer