Background: News footage of Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, Pa. (WCAU). Inset: Jonathan Gerlach (Delaware County District Attorney”s Office).
A Pennsylvania man who was allegedly caught with more than 100 sets of skeletal human remains now faces almost 600 criminal charges.
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, was arrested on Tuesday following an investigation into alleged burglaries at the historic Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, a borough on the southwest border of Philadelphia. According to a press release from the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, detectives responded to reports of several desecrated graves beginning in early November 2025. A surveillance operation ensued, and two months later, Gerlach was allegedly caught in the act, “exiting the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crowbar, and other assorted items.”
Inside his car, detectives said they found “numerous bones and skulls in plain view in the back seat.” According to an affidavit obtained by the Daily Times, a local news outlet, the burlap sack contained “two mummified remains of small children, three skulls, and other assorted bones.”
Authorities stated that the search did not end there. A search warrant was obtained for Gerlach’s home in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, where police said they found more than 100 “full or partial” sets of human remains. The majority of the remains were skeletal, while some were still decomposing. Police said one set of human remains still had a pacemaker attached. A search of a storage unit allegedly yielded eight more sets of human remains.
According to the affidavit, Gerlach’s vehicle and phone were tracked by detectives after he was identified as a suspect in the burglaries. Police said a license plate matching Gerlach’s Toyota RAV4 had several hits near the cemetery throughout November and December 2025.
Police stated that Gerlach’s phone records showed his number pinging off towers near the cemetery on several dates beginning on Oct. 31, 2025.
When police caught Gerlach at the cemetery on Tuesday, they said he surrendered without incident. Police said he then demonstrated how he opened the graves with a crowbar. During an interview with police, Gerlach admitted to taking 30 sets of remains from Mount Moriah Cemetery. Police brought him back to the historic site on Wednesday, where he showed them seven locations from which he allegedly took 15 sets of remains.
During a press conference on Thursday that was covered by local NBC affiliate WCAU, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said, “Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life the other night, guys.” He stated that some of the sets of remains were more than 100 years old, and some of the remains belonged to “months-old infants” and children. Rouse said authorities will be working to identify the remains, but said, “It is going to be quite some time before we have a final answer.”
Rouse confirmed that investigators are looking into social media groups that Gerlach is connected with, including one that purports to sell human skeletal remains. Authorities believe that Gerlach acted alone, but Rouse said he was living with a girlfriend who was “at least around the home” where the human remains were found.
Rouse added, “Our hearts go out to every family that is impacted by this.”
Gerlach was charged with a total of 574 counts, including 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property; 26 counts of felony burglary; and 52 counts each of felony criminal trespass and misdemeanor intentional desecration. He remains in custody on $1 million cash bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20.
