Police in Pennsylvania say a months-long investigation into grave robberies at one of the country’s largest abandoned cemeteries has uncovered a disturbing cache of human remains, including more than 100 skulls, mummified body parts, and decomposing torsos.
The case broke open after officers spotted bones and skulls visible in the back seat of a car parked near Mount Moriah Cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia. That discovery led authorities to the basement of a nearby home, where investigators say the remains had been hoarded over time.
According to police, the arrest late Tuesday capped an investigation into repeated break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery, a historic burial ground dating back to 1855. Since early November, at least 26 mausoleums and underground vaults at the cemetery had been forced open, with sealed stonework smashed or damaged to access older burials.
Investigators later searched the Ephrata home and a storage unit linked to Jonathan Christ Gerlach, 34. Inside, they reported finding more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos, and other skeletal remains.
“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.
Authorities said most of the remains were stored in the basement. Jewelry believed to have been taken from graves was also recovered, and in one instance, a pacemaker was still attached to a body part.
Police believe Gerlach specifically targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which spans about 160 acres in Yeadon and contains an estimated 150,000 grave sites. The cemetery is considered the largest abandoned burial ground in the United States, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, a nonprofit group that helps maintain the site.
Investigators had been tracking the burglaries when a review of vehicle plate data showed Gerlach’s car had been near Yeadon multiple times during the period when the break-ins occurred. Police say the thefts focused on older graves, where remains were easier to access once sealed vaults were breached.
Gerlach was arrested as he walked back toward his car carrying a crowbar, police said. Officers also recovered a burlap bag containing the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls, and additional bones.
Police said Gerlach told investigators he took about 30 sets of human remains and even showed them the graves he had stolen from.
“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 has been charged with 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 being held on a $1 million bond. Court records did not list an attorney for him, and a message seeking comment sent to a phone number linked to Gerlach was not returned.
