Man Charged After Robbing Bones from Hundreds of Graves

A man from eastern Pennsylvania has been charged with allegedly robbing dozens of graves in the Philadelphia area and collecting pieces of human remains.

Jonathan Gerlach, 34, is accused of stealing over 100 sets of remains, according to an April 17 report from CBS News.

The disturbing grave robberies allegedly took place at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which straddles Philadelphia and Delaware counties, as well as graves in Lancaster and Luzerne counties.

He allegedly took the remains — ranging from skulls and bones to entire corpses — back to his home in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors have charged him with 26 counts of burglary, 26 counts of criminal trespass, 100 counts of abuse of corpse, 100 counts of receiving stolen property, and 26 counts of intentional desecration of public monument, according to a report from WCAU.

Jonathan Gerlach, the accused grave robber who allegedly targeted a Philadelphia-area cemetery and hoarded more than 100 sets of remains in his Lancaster County home, was granted a postponement to his preliminary court hearing on Friday.
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— CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) March 13, 2026

The thefts allegedly took place between Nov. 7, 2025, and Jan. 6, 2026.

Investigators encountered Gerlach during surveillance at Mount Moriah Cemetery.

His car was seen with several skulls and bones in the backseat.

Gerlach was spotted at the scene — leaving the cemetery with a burlap sack and a crowbar.

He had apparently been selling the bones, an activity that was evident from his social media feeds, per CBS News.

Judy Prichard, whose great-grandfather’s remains at Mount Moriah Cemetery were allegedly taken by Gerlach, appeared in court last week.

“I think the man needs help,” she said of the suspect. “They added two more counties today. The charges are like this long.”

Gerlach had allegedly tried to access other coffins in the family mausoleum, but was unable to disturb the graves.

“They had additional locks on the coffin,” Prichard described.

“You have to lock your coffin so somebody doesn’t get in there, and they weren’t successful in getting in there.”

Gerlach has remained in jail since January, as he has not been able to make bail.

CBS News reported that families are now expecting that their loved ones’ graves have been permanently disrupted, as determining the identities of the deceased would take tremendous work.

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