More than 100 sets of human remains found in Pennsylvania grave robbing case: ‘A horror movie come to life’

Jonathan Gerlach faces nearly 500 charges in Pennsylvania after officers found at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been forced open since early November

Jonathan Gerlach has been arrested and faces nearly 500 charges after the gruesome discovery (Delaware County District Attorney's Office via AP)

Bones and skulls spotted in the back seat of a car near an abandoned cemetery led police to an horrific discovery - a basement filled with body parts.

Detectives walked into “a horror movie come to life” whey they found more than 100 sets of human remains during raids at a suspected grave robber’s home and storage unit in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

Jonathan Gerlach now faces nearly 500 charges after at least 26 mausoleums and vaults were burglarized at Mount Moriah Cemetery since November.

“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life in that home,” district attorney Tanner Rouse in a press conference Thursday.

“It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific. 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.

“They were in various states. Some of them were hanging, as it were. Some of them were pieced together, some were just skulls on a shelf.”

The entrance to Mount Moriah Cemetery where the thefts took place (GoogleMaps)

Most were in the basement, authorities said, and they also recovered jewelry believed to be linked to the graves. In one case, a pacemaker was still attached.

Police say Gerlach targeted mausoleums and underground vaults at the 1855 cemetery. It's considered the country’s largest abandoned burial ground, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, which helps maintain the 160-acre landmark in Yeadon that's home to an estimated 150,000 grave sites.

Authorities learned of the alleged crimes when board members with the nonprofit group that worked to preserve the cemetery called police to say grave sites had been desecrated, NBC News reported.

Police had been looking into the string of burglaries when an investigator checked Gerlach’s vehicle plates and found he had been near Yeadon repeatedly during the period when the burglaries occurred.

Gerlach admitted stealing dozens of human remains, cops said (Delaware County District Attorney's Office via AP)

“On January 6, 2026, at approximately 20:00hrs, detectives were conducting surveillance of the cemetery when they observed the suspect’s car with numerous bones and skulls in plain view in the back seat of the vehicle,” the DA’S office said in a statement.

“Gerlach was then seen exiting the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crow bar and other assorted items. The offender was brought into custody where he admitted to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains.”

Gerlach was charged with 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, along with multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing and theft.

Gerlach is being held on a $1 million bond. The investigation is ongoing and police are working to identified the remains and any family.

Yeadon Police Chief Henry Giammarco said the case was the most disturbing he had seen in his career.

“Rest in peace is rest in peace, and this is definitely something that tears at your heartstrings,” he said.