A Pennsylvania man allegedly stole dozens of bones, skulls and human remains from a historic cemetery — and even had corpses hanging from the ceiling of his home, according to authorities.
Jonathan Christian Gerlach was arrested Tuesday after a months-long investigation into a slew of body snatchings at the 200-acre Mount Morah Cemetery in the Philadelphia suburb of Yeadon,, authorities said.
He now faces 500 criminal charges for the grisly burglaries, which began in November.
The macabre thief had been rappelling into mausoleums, prying open underground vaults and removing human remains dating back more than a century, police said.
Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, which is about 90 minutes west of Philadelphia, was nabbed after an investigator checked his vehicle plates and found he had been near Yeadon repeatedly during the period when the burglaries occurred.
He was allegedly spotted Jan. 6 when cops doing surveillance saw his car inside the cemetery, the Delaware County District Attorney said.
Investigators then watched as Gerlach allegedly exited the cemetery carrying a crowbar and a burlap bag, they said.
Bones and skulls were visible inside his vehicle when he was arrested, according to authorities.
Gerlach allegedly admitted to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains from Mount Moriah and even explained how he accessed the burial sites.
“In my 30-year career, probably one of the most horrific things,” said Yeadon Borough Police Chief Henry Giammarco. “There was an infant, and unfortunately, to see that being a father and a grandfather, it truly tears your heart up. When people are laid to rest, that’s important.”
The DA said a search warrant was executed later that night at Gerlach’s home and a storage unit, which they said led to the recovery of more than 100 full or partial sets of human and skeletal remains.
“Very simply, detectives walked into a horror movie come to life in that home,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said. “Understand, some of these are 200 years old. Some obviously much newer, there’s one with a pacemaker still attached to the body.”
“It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific,” Rouse said. “I grieve for those who are upset by this, who are going through this, who are trying to figure out if it is in fact one of their loved ones.”
Investigators later uncovered online activity tied to Gerlach, including posts in a “Human Bones and Skull selling group,” where a buyer thanked him for mailing “a possible teen” and “a baboon and a monkey,” they alleged.
Other social media posts showed Gerlach posing with a skull, captioned, “riding a Harley, and slinging skulls,” according to police.
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Following a review of the evidence, prosecutors approved a sweeping list of 500 criminal charges against Gerlach, including burglary, trespass, abuse of a corpse, theft by unlawful taking of stolen property, and multiple counts related to desecration of burial places and public monuments.
Prosecutors said Gerlach is currently being held at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility on $1 million cash bail.
The investigation remains ongoing, and officials said additional remains could still be identified. They noted that it’s not clear if any remains were sold or why Gerlach wanted them.
