Pennsylvania man allegedly found with over 100 sets of human remains
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A Pennsylvania man is facing hundreds of charges after “more than 100 complete or partial human and skeletal remains” were allegedly found at his home and in a warehouse in what a district attorney described as a “horror movie come to life.”
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, was arrested this week by police investigating a series of burglarized graves and mausoleums at Mount Moriah Cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.
“The detectives walked into a horror movie and came to life… This is an incredible scene that involved no one, from me to the detectives to the medical examiners who are now trying to piece together the things they’re looking at – literally – none of them have ever seen anything like this before,” District Attorney Tanner Rouse said in a statement Thursday. he said.
“Detectives have seized a lot of bones at this point, and we’re still trying to piece together who they are, where they came from, how many they looked at, and it’s going to take a long time before we get to a final answer,” Rouse said, noting that some of the remains were months old babies, while others were hundreds of years old.
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Jonathan Gerlach, 34, was arrested on Tuesday, January 6, 2025, at Mount Moriah Cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Delaware County District Attorney’s Office via AP/Google Maps)
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said that around 8 p.m. Tuesday, police conducted surveillance at Mount Moriah Cemetery and “obviously observed the suspect’s car with multiple bones and skulls in the backseat of the vehicle.”
“Gerlach was later seen leaving the cemetery with a burlap sack, crowbar and other assorted items in his hand. The culprit was taken into custody and confessed to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains.”
“As a result of the investigation, it is believed that more than 100 complete or partial human and skeletal remains were seized from Gerlach’s home and storage unit in Ephrata. This investigation is ongoing,” the statement said.
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Mount Moriah Cemetery on the Philadelphia border. (Google Maps)
Gerlach was charged with more than 450 crimes, 100 each of which included abuse of a corpse, unlawful taking of stolen property, and theft by receipt.
His bail was set at $1 million and a hearing was scheduled for January 20.
The Delaware District Attorney’s Office said Jonathan Gerlach was seen leaving Mount Moriah Cemetery this week “with a burlap bag, crowbar and other miscellaneous items.” (Google Maps)
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“I feel sorry for those who are disturbed by this, who are going through this, who are trying to figure out if this is truly someone they love,” Rouse said.
