05/22/2026
Wenatchee Man Arrested After His Best-Selling Jerky Is Found To Be Made Of Human Meat
Wenatchee, WA – 64-year-old Ross Buckworth has been arrested for selling dehydrated human meat, a.k.a. jerky, at his general store, “Ross’s Goods.” Well, not all “Ross’s Goods” are “good.”
Buckworth has been running his store for the last 25 years, and over time, there became a cult following for his distinctive jerky. Most everyone who had the opportunity to visit Wenatchee would get some of Ross’s jerky.
It just so happened that an executive from Jack Link’s was staying in Wenatchee for a family event. He decided to purchase some of Ross’s jerky and take it back to work to see if anyone there could figure out what made Ross’s jerky so special.
When the jerky made its way back to the Jack Link’s factory, it was given to the in-house scientists to run tests in hopes of deciphering what ingredients Buckworth was using for his jerky. What they didn’t expect was that the meat wasn’t that of a cow, but of a human. Tests were then run by an independent lab to verify the results from Jack Link’s. Again: human meat.
Local authorities arrested Buckworth on suspicion of using human meat for the jerky he sold to the public, and police needed to find the source of the meat.
It turns out that about once a year during the summer, Ross hires a new helper for his store. “Summer is a busy time, and I can use the extra help for a few months,” said Buckworth. What he neglected to mention, but was later discovered by authorities, is that three of these men have been reported missing.
It didn’t take much for Wenatchee authorities to put two and two together and place Ross Buckworth under arrest for making and selling the human meat. While locked up, authorities hope to connect the missing men via DNA extracted from the jerky to known samples from the missing individuals.
As more is revealed, we will update this story.
