Philadelphia Suburb Police Shocked by Arrest in Grave Robbery Case Involving Bag of Skulls, Bones, and Mummified Remains

Police discovered a basement full of human remains after spotting bones and skulls in a car’s back seat near a deserted cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Authorities allege the body parts were collected by a man now facing charges for stealing approximately 100 sets of human remains.

According to officers, an arrest on Tuesday night concluded an investigation lasting several months into burglaries at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Since early November, at least 26 mausoleums and vaults there had been broken into.

A subsequent search of the Ephrata residence and storage unit belonging to 34-year-old Jonathan Christ Gerlach uncovered over 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos, and other skeletal pieces, investigators reported.

“They were in various states. Some of them were hanging, as it were. Some of them were pieced together, some were just skulls on a shelf,” stated Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse.

Authorities said most of the remains were located in the basement, and jewelry thought to be connected to the graves was also retrieved. In one instance, a pacemaker was still attached to remains.

Police state that Gerlach focused on mausoleums and underground vaults at the cemetery, which was established in 1855. The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, a group that assists in maintaining the Yeadon site with an estimated 150,000 graves, consider it the nation’s largest abandoned burial ground.

The investigation into the burglary series progressed when an officer ran Gerlach’s license plate and discovered he had been in the Yeadon area frequently during the time the break-ins happened. Police report the intrusions targeted sealed vaults and mausoleums holding older burials, which were either smashed open or had their stonework damaged to access the contents.

He was taken into custody as he returned to his vehicle carrying a crowbar and a burlap sack, police said. Inside the bag, officers discovered the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls, and additional bones.

Gerlach informed investigators that he had taken around 30 sets of human remains and pointed out the specific graves he robbed, according to police.

“Given the enormity of what we are looking at and the sheer, utter lack of reasonable explanation, it’s difficult to say right now, at this juncture, exactly what took place. We’re trying to figure it out,” Rouse told reporters.

Gerlach faces 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, in addition to multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing, and theft.

He is being held on a $1 million bond. Court records did not list an attorney for him. A request for comment was sent via text message to a cellphone associated with him.