January 08, 2026
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Lancaster County, is charged with stealing human remains from grave sites at Mount Moriah Cemetary, the historic burial grounds in Yeadon Borough and Southwest Philadelphia. Above,the Philadelphia skyline can be seen in the distance from a back corner of the cemetery.
A 34-year-old man was allegedly caught breaking into a grave at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon Borough on Monday night, leading authorities to a Lancaster County home where police found more than 100 human skeletal remains, the Delaware County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
Jonathan Gerlach, of Ephrata, is charged with a slew of offenses amid an investigation into a series of grave robberies at the historic cemetery that spans parts of Yeadon and Southwest Philadelphia along Cobbs Creek. Mount Moriah contains more than 150,000 grave sites, including remains that date back to the Revolutionary War, and is the state's largest cemetery at more than 160 acres.
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Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said the allegations against Gerlach are among the most shocking he's ever encountered.
"Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life," Rouse said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The investigation began in November when volunteers at the cemetery reported repeated desecrations of mausoleums and underground vaults in the Yeadon section of Mount Moriah. Between Nov. 7 and Jan. 6, a total of 26 grave sites had been broken into or damaged. The stolen remains included full and partial skeletons, name plates, jewelry and other items, prosecutors said.
In late December, detectives began monitoring license plate readers surrounding the cemetery to identify a vehicle that traveled to and from the area during the period of the alleged thefts. Gerlach's Toyota RAV4, which had never been observed near Mount Moriah before the robberies started, was traced to the area near the cemetery in both Yeadon and Philadelphia on numerous occasions in November and December — including Halloween and Christmas Eve, prosecutors said.
Around 8 p.m. Monday, police stationed at the cemetery spotted Gerlach's vehicle parked next to Mount Moriah after the grounds had been closed to the public for the day. Numerous human bones and skulls were visible in the back seat of the car, police said.
Detectives later spotted Gerlach leaving the cemetery carrying a burlap bag, crowbar and other items. Inside the bag were two mummified remains of small children, three skulls and other bones. Gerlach was taken into custody and showed police the vault he had just broken into with a crowbar, prosecutors said.
When authorities executed a search warrant at Gerlach's Ephrata home on Tuesday, they found human skulls, assorted skeletal remains, mummified feet and hands, and two decomposing human torsos in his basement, according to charging documents.
"Some of them were hanging, as it were," Rouse said. "Some were pieced to together. Some were skulls sitting on a shelf."
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Lancaster County, is charged with burglary and criminal trespassing, abuse of a corpse, and desecration and theft or sale of venerated objects.
Rouse said authorities are still investigating why Rouse collected human remains and whether he sold any of the items allegedly stolen from grave sites.
"We don't know exactly what he was doing with them," Rouse said. "... It's not clear there was (a motive)."
Investigators suspect Gerlach targeted numerous cemeteries, but authorities have not yet identified other sites from which remains may have been taken. Some are more than 100 years old, while others belong to people who died recently.
"There is a lot that needs to be done to collect and humanely return these remains," Rouse said.
Yeadon Police Chief Henry Giammarco Jr. said the case is the most disturbing he's encountered during his career.
"After 30 years now, this is probably the most horrific thing that I've seen," he said. "Rest in peace is rest in peace. This is definitely something that tears at your heartstrings."
Rouse said most of the thefts at Mount Moriah appear to have occurred during after-hours at the cemetery "under the cloak of darkness." He said prosecutors are investigating Gerlach's background and online behavior, but there is no indication he is involved with a Satanic cult at this time. Detectives are looking into a Facebook group linked to the sale of human skeletal remains where Gerlach allegedly was tagged in a photo holding a skull.
No other arrests are pending and there have been no signs that others are involved, but Rouse did not rule out the possibility. Gerlach's girlfriend, who was not identified, was seen in and around the property in Ephrata, Rouse said. The property is about 65 miles west of Mount Moriah Cemetery.
"We are trying to figure out exactly what went on in that home," Rouse said.
Gerlach is charged with 26 counts of burglary and criminal trespassing, abuse of a corpse, and desecration and theft or sale of venerated objects. His bail was set at $1 million.
The DA's office said anyone with information can call lead Detective Leah Cesanek at 610-623-1500 or Detective Chris Karr at 610-891-4700.
