Jonathan Christ Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with stealing more than 100 sets of human remains from Mount Moriah Cemetery, a historic burial ground on Philadelphia’s outskirts, Delaware County authorities said. Officers stopped Gerlach as he walked back toward his car carrying a crowbar and a burlap bag that contained the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls and other bones, according to police.
The arrest concluded a monthslong investigation into break-ins at one of the country’s largest abandoned cemeteries, where at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been forced open since early November. Gerlach faces more than 200 criminal charges, including 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property.
Police in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, arrested Jonathan Christ Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata on Tuesday night after officers stopped him near an abandoned Philadelphia-area cemetery as he walked back toward his car carrying a crowbar, according to authorities. In his possession was a burlap bag containing the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls and other bones.
The arrest concluded a monthslong investigation into break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, where at least 26 mausoleums and underground vaults had been forced open since early November, police said. A subsequent search of Gerlach’s home and storage unit in Ephrata turned up more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos and other skeletal material.
“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,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said.
Investigators also recovered jewelry they believe was linked to the graves. In at least one case, a pacemaker was still attached to the remains, authorities said.
The Investigation
Police began examining the string of burglaries and traced Gerlach partly through vehicle plate records showing he had been near Yeadon repeatedly during the period when the break-ins occurred. The targeted sites centered on sealed vaults and mausoleums containing older burials, which had been smashed open or had their stonework damaged to reach the remains inside, authorities said.
Gerlach told investigators he took about 30 sets of human remains and led them to the graves he stole from, police said. The total of more than 100 sets charged reflects remains recovered across both the cemetery and the searches of his property.
“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.
Charges and Custody
Gerlach faces 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, along with multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing and theft. He is held on $1 million bond. No attorney was listed in court records as of Wednesday.
About Mount Moriah Cemetery
Mount Moriah Cemetery, founded in 1855, is considered the country’s largest abandoned burial ground. The 160-acre landmark in Yeadon is home to an estimated 150,000 grave sites, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, a group that helps maintain the property.