01/09/2026
34-year-old Jonathan Gerlach of Ephrata was found in possession of more than 100 human skeletal remains.
MEDIA, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — A Lancaster County man faces a litany of charges, including burglary, abuse of a co**se, and theft or sale of venerated objects, after being accused of grave robbing Mount Moriah Cemetery on the border of Southwest Philadelphia and Yeadon, Delaware County.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said authorities were first tipped off to the grave thefts leveled against 34-year-old Jonathan Gerlach by police in Yeadon, who had received reports of a number of grave thefts at Mount Moriah Cemetery starting in November last year.
It led them to Gerlach’s house in Ephrata, where authorities said they recovered hundreds of human skeletal remains.
“Very simply, detectives walked into a horror movie come to life,” Rouse said at a press conference Thursday announcing Gerlach’s arrest. “This is an unbelievable scene… no one involved has ever seen anything like this before.”
After receiving the reports of grave thefts, Rouse said law enforcement officers laid in wait at the cemetery on the night of Jan. 6. 2026 and watched Rouse desecrate another grave before taking him into custody.
In addition to the hundreds of human remains recovered by law enforcement at Gerlach’s home in Ephrata, a locker was also found to have the remains of eight more people. Among all the remains, authorities said one was an infant and another still had a pacemaker.
Rouse said authorities are still working to piece together the remains and believe Gerlach robbed other cemeteries across Pennsylvania. He said they’re also looking into a Facebook group with a post from Gerlach holding a bone for sale.
Gerlach remains in jail on a million dollar bail.
34-year-old Jonathan Gerlach of Ephrata, PA, was found to have hundreds of human skeletal remains in his house after being caught desecrating a grave at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Southwest Philadelphia.
