100 skulls, mummified body parts found in a Pennsylvania grave robbery case: Police

Bones and skulls visible in the backseat of a car near an abandoned cemetery in suburban Philadelphia led police to a basement full of body parts, which authorities say were hoarded by a man now accused of stealing about 100 sets of human remains.

Police say an arrest Tuesday evening was the culmination of a months-long investigation into break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery, where at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been forcibly opened since early November.

Investigators then searched the Ephrata home and storage unit of Jonathan Christ Gerlach, 34, and reported finding more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos and other skeletal objects.

“They were in different states. Some of them were hanging, so to speak. Some of them were reconstructed, some of them were just skulls on a shelf,” said Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse.

Most were in the basement, authorities said, and they also recovered jewelry believed to be linked to the graves. In one case, a pacemaker was still attached.

Police say Gerlach targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at the 1855 cemetery. It is considered the largest abandoned cemetery in the country, according to the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, which helps maintain the 160-acre monument in Yeadon that houses about 150,000 graves.

Police were investigating the series of burglaries when an investigator checked the license plates on Gerlach’s vehicle and discovered he had been near Yeadon several times during the time the burglaries took place. Police said the break-ins focused on sealed vaults and mausoleums containing older burials, which had been broken or had the stone damaged to reach the remains inside.

He was arrested as he returned to his car with a crowbar, police said, and a burlap bag in which officers found the mummified remains of two young children, three skulls and other bones.

Gerlach told investigators he took about 30 sets of human remains and showed them the graves he robbed, police said.

“Given the enormity of what we’re seeing and the complete lack of reasonable explanations, it’s difficult to say right now, at this point, exactly what happened. We’re trying to figure it out,” Rouse told reporters.

Gerlach was charged with 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, as well as multiple counts of desecration of a public monument, desecration of a venerated object, desecration of a historic burial site, burglary, trespassing and theft.

He is jailed on $1 million bail. No attorney was listed in court records. A message seeking comment was sent via text message to a cell phone linked to him.