“Dr. Gloves Part 2 - An Addendum”
r/TrueCrime (Posted by u/waywardkoala on 11/5/2023)
Warning: Graphic/Sensitive Content NSFW
A disclaimer: Like the previous post I made on this subject, this post deals with graphic depictions of gore and child abuse. The photos in this post are heavily censored and edited to show the minimum amount of graphic material but are still disturbing. This album [LINK] contains non-graphic photos.
To start, a lot has happened since my last post on this case. Law enforcement (LE) at the local, state, and federal levels are aware of this case and are actively investigating. Initial reports with LE were made in November of 2022 and the investigation has been active since. Considerable progress has been made in the past year with tracking down persons of interest and over a dozen search warrants have been filed relating to this case. This is by no means a cold case, but there are still missing pieces of the puzzle we need to find.
Before November of 2022, there had been no law enforcement involvement in the case because no one had reported it to the police or the FBI. I bring this up to point out the realness of the bystander effect and its real consequences. I am not oblivious to my own naiveté in assuming that this case, for how horrific it is, couldn’t have gone unreported for the ~8 years it has been on the internet; but it did. If you see something, say something.
A lot of the research I have done in the past year has been in collaboration with u/invisiblechoir, a podcaster who has an [episode – link pending] on this case, as well as a five-part series in his paid feed that I highly recommend if you want an extremely detailed analysis of this case. I don’t have a financial stake in his show, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give him credit for all of the time, effort, and resources he has put into solving this case. He was the one who initially reached out to the hospital and law enforcement and has done a lot to keep this case alive. We have put together a website (LINK - whoisdrgloves.com) with additional information and resources. On the site, you can find my original post, redacted images, more case information, and a form to submit any tips or ideas you might have about the case.
Regarding the hospital’s initial response – They seemed disinterested in knowing more about this case, even after being informed that some of the photos were likely taken in their facility. Despite being offered investigative materials to examine and possibly refer to law enforcement, they proceeded to file a police report that lacked any substantive information about the case. As a result, no detective was assigned, and the investigation did not proceed until the police were made aware of the case independently. I can only hope that things between them and the police have been more…productive since then. I will not be naming the facility where the photos with disabled children were taken for their privacy and because local/state law enforcement are already investigating.
To keep things simple, I use “Dr. Gloves” (DG) to refer to the person featured in each of the photographs. However, we can’t prove that “Dr. Gloves” exists as a single person. In fact, I believe that DG is at least two different people. Please keep that in mind while reading the post - DG is going to be referred as a singular entity but that does not mean I am referring to a single person. I think it’s very possible that the photos with disabled children were taken by a different person than whoever took the other photos. In short, we don’t know when the photos were first posted or if all of the photos we attribute to DG came from the same source. I will elaborate more on this throughout the post.
A summary of the case for those who are new here:
My initial post can be found here [https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrime/comments/uqizdu/dr_gloves_who_is_he/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3].
This case centers on one or more persons who are known by the name “Dr. Gloves,” for the surgical gloves in the photos they took. DG took four series of photographs showing severely disabled children being taunted and physically abused, the desecration of stillborn/fetal remains, the mock-abuse of a small child, and DG playing with what appear to be human organs. The photos were posted to 4chan or a related Chan-forum sometime between 2015 and 2017. We know with certainty that most of the photos were taken in North America, some in the United States. Some of the photos were traced to a children’s care facility in Southern California, but the locations in the others remain a mystery.
Circling back to the children’s facility.
Thanks to some attentive commenters on the last post who noticed that the baby in one photo was wrapped in a swaddle bearing the hospital’s logo, we were able to trace the photos with living children to a pediatric long-term care facility in Southern California. This was further supported by comparing photos of the victims to social media posts and now-deleted marketing materials.
The facility shares a campus with a larger hospital, which is likely where the photos of a baby in a bassinet and an operating room waste bin were taken. Since the children’s facility aspect of this case is more or less squared away, I’m not going to devote much more of this post to it. Law enforcement know where the photos were taken and have identified the children in the photos, so there isn’t much more to be gained from us investigating it. Still, if you have a tip on who might have taken the photos, please share it.
I’m of the opinion that the photos with disabled children were taken by a different person than whoever appears in the morgue, walk-in, and office photos. This would resolve one of the most puzzling aspects of the case - How someone would have access to living disabled children and fetal remains. However, this does not prove anything beyond DG having access to the children and hospital.
No legitimate access to the Children’s Facility
Per law enforcement, the individual in the photos with the disabled children probably had no legitimate reason to be in the hospital, let alone the children’s facility. How did DG get in to the children’s facility and maternity ward? Did the facility have overly-lax entry policies for visitors or volunteers or was DG stretching the limits of employee status? I think that the lack of legitimate access can effectively rule out a healthcare provider seeing a patient or a volunteer/visitor. That being said, I think the odds of DG being in the facility totally undetected are slim to none. The photos appear to have been taken both during the day and at night based on the backgrounds and use of flash, which might point to him having some employee or contractor status with the hospital. Any ideas y’all might have about this would be greatly appreciated.
One angle that might be worth considering is the color of DG’s shirt in the disabled child photos. Like many health systems, Dignity Health seems to have job-specific uniform colors. I would be curious to know if there is a light blue uniform shirt for employees and what job that might correspond to. If anyone knows, please comment or reach out.
Something else of note - Females are over-represented in the photos. Based on patient gift lists posted to social media by a volunteer, the average ratio of female patients to male patients from 2020-2022 was F1:M2. The photos with disabled children have an F:M ratio of 4:1 - This seems drastic even when expected fluctuations in patient demographics are considered. What does this mean - Is it a coincidence or a preference?
The ”Morgue” Photos
Let’s go with the assumption that the person in the “morgue” photos is not the same person in the photos with living children; we can’t prove it one way or another, but I think it’d help remedy one of the major contradictions in the case -access to both living children and fetal remains.
I don’t think the photos with fetal remains were taken in the process of a post-mortem examination or autopsy procedure. I lean more towards the scenario of the remains being held in storage before being released for burial, cremation, or disposal. The main reasons I do are the condition of the equipment and furniture, or the lack thereof. The room where the photos are taken is in no condition to conduct post-mortem examinations and could never meet regulatory requirements; on top of that, the room is basically empty other than the fridge and freezer. The absence of a clean work surface, consumable supplies, procedural lighting, etc. are all consistent with a storage room.
Circumstances aside, the room itself is interesting. The furnishings are in a state of decay, but the room is clearly being used for something. My guess is storage of remains or waste. I don’t think DG is stealing intact remains and bringing them somewhere to take the “morgue” photos; , instead, I think that the morgue room is located within a nicer, newer facility. This would make sense with how common it is for hospitals to build onto existing structures rather than demolishing them. I’ve put a rough map of the room and a collage of redacted photos below in the hope that someone will recognize it – Please comment or reach out if you do.
The “Walk-in” Photos
Some of the most bizarre photos in this series feature three human brains on a dirty broiler pan taken in a room that resembles a walk-in cooler. I think the person in these photos is the same person in the morgue and office photos because of their body shape, rubber gimp mask, and scrubs. The paneling on the wall resembles a walk-in cooler or something you might find in a commercial kitchen, but I can’t tell one way or another. If anyone has an idea of where/what that room might be, please comment or reach out.
The broiler pan was traced back to a line of Frigidaire residential electric ovens - https://tinyurl.com/3vnruxeb. None of which would be found in a hospital or lab setting. The broiler pan is sold by the manufacturer as a replacement part, so DG most likely brought the tray from home to wherever the photos were taken. This brings up a twisted version of the chicken or the egg - Were the brains brought to the tray or was the tray brought to the brains? I don’t see much of a reason to bring a used broiler tray into work, so I lean towards the first option. A beat-up wooden table is also visible in one of the photos, which adds more to the prospect of the photos being taken outside of a hospital. Playing devil’s advocate, even if the photos were taken in a medical facility and a Frigidaire broiler pan happened to be sitting around, why not use a cutting board like the other photos - Was the intent to imply something?
There is also the question of how the brains came to be on the tray. Assuming that the photos were not taken in a hospital or morgue, how does DG obtain three fresh (non-fixed) brains? I don’t think it’s likely that the brains were removed during an autopsy, mainly because the brains are largely intact and the standard protocol for a neonatal autopsy is to take histological samples from parts of the brain that are only accessible by dissection. (https://tinyurl.com/ynbnttzn). Frankly, I doubt that any of the photos with fetal remains were taken in the course of an autopsy. If the intent of DG was to shock and disgust, it makes no sense why he wouldn’t take photos during an autopsy if he could.
Additionally, I think the precision with which the brains were removed is worth noting. Each brain has an intact cerebrum and appears to be missing the cerebellum. In a photo I have not posted, the brainstem is visible and has been cut at a smooth angle immediately below the medulla oblongata (the brain stem-spinal cord junction). This level of precision would be odd from someone without at least basic surgical experience. That said, we don’t have proof that he was the one who removed the brains and based on his sloppy handling of a scalpel, I doubt he did.
Among the walk-in photos, two photos show DG wearing elbow length gloves and dropping an organ (a liver?) into his hand. The photos have a unique focus that wouldn’t be attainable with a cell phone camera in 2014-2017. Assuming they were taken with a traditional camera, this would mean that DG was not only comfortable with the camera, but that he also had a space to set up to take flash photos in.
Disgusting, but not reckless.
Something that’s become readily apparent to me when reviewing this case is how deliberate and staged every photo is. The person(s) who took these photos were very aware of what they show and carefully avoided reflections, exposing their face or neck, etc. Even the photos of DG’s hand touching the disabled children have been cropped. He seems to want the attention and enjoys dropping breadcrumbs that lead nowhere (so far, successfully).
I don’t think DG/whoever took these photos did it on a whim or did it just for the shock value – They’re getting something out of it. DG is comfortable doing what he does because he knows that he’s gamed the system and won’t be caught. As horrible as these photos are, I would be genuinely surprised if these were the only ones. There’s got to be something else he’s put online. The kind of people that do things as extreme as this don’t just stop.
Dispelling some rumors:
⁃ The “Edvin B…” badge is fake and is obviously edited in. The badge looks similar to one from the children’s facility, but I wouldn’t call it a close resemblance. It might have been added as a red herring, but both badges have pretty generic designs, so it could also be coincidental. On a related note, the name is unique but not rare. It’s anyone’s guess on why that name was chosen, but I don’t think it means anything.
⁃ There are a few photos that were posted along with the DG photos showing an infant autopsy that were taken different setting with different tools. These have been traced to a video from a Mexican medical school showing an infant autopsy.
⁃ He is not a “child mortician.”
Is there more than one “Dr. Gloves”
Is DG a single person or do multiple people appear in the photos?
There is no proof that DG is the same person in the morgue and disabled child photos because the photos with living children only show his gloved arm. My thought is that the “Dr. Gloves” who took the photos with living children was someone who dressed nicely (button down, slacks, loafers) and knew that his clothing could be recognizable if he exposed anything more than his gloved hand and arm. Whoever took the morgue and office photos had no qualms about standing in front of the camera and showing their entire body. Why wasn’t this the case for the photos with disabled children? – Why was each photo cropped carefully at the cuff of his gloves? My guess, they were taken by different people.
The morgue and disabled- child photos can also be differentiated by the size and shape of DG’s hands while wearing the same exact kind of gloves (Regent Biogel, size 6). The hands in the morgue photos are larger and have thicker fingers than those in the photos with living children also have thicker fingers and different thumb shapes. It’s possible he is wearing more than one glove in the morgue photo.
[Hand comparison photo]
We also know with some certainty that people have copied his photos, so who’s to say that the person who took the photos with disabled children wasn’t inspired by the morgue photos?
An Appeal for Information – Please reach out if you can help with any of the following:
- If you were/are a member of the D**th Ad**ct forums, please reach out.
- If you recognize the “morgue” or “walk-in” spaces.
- If you are familiar with the handling of remains (pathologist’s assistant, mortician, embalmer, medical waste management, etc).