A Pennsylvania man allegedly stole dozens of bones, skulls and human stays from a historic cemetery — and even had corpses hanging from the ceiling of his house, in response to authorities.
Jonathan Christian Gerlach was arrested Tuesday after a months-long investigation right into a slew of physique snatchings on the 200-acre Mount Morah Cemetery within the Philadelphia suburb of Yeadon,, authorities stated.
He now faces 500 prison fees for the grisly burglaries, which started in November.
The macabre thief had been rappelling into mausoleums, prying open underground vaults and eradicating human stays relationship again greater than a century, police stated.
Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, which is about 90 minutes west of Philadelphia, was nabbed after an investigator checked his automobile plates and located he had been close to Yeadon repeatedly throughout the interval when the burglaries occurred.
He was allegedly noticed Jan. 6 when cops doing surveillance noticed his automotive contained in the cemetery, the Delaware County District Lawyer stated.
Investigators then watched as Gerlach allegedly exited the cemetery carrying a crowbar and a burlap bag, they stated.
Bones and skulls have been seen inside his automobile when he was arrested, in response to authorities.
Gerlach allegedly admitted to stealing roughly 30 units of human stays from Mount Moriah and even defined how he accessed the burial websites.
“In my 30-year profession, most likely some of the horrific issues,” stated Yeadon Borough Police Chief Henry Giammarco. “There was an toddler, and sadly, to see that being a father and a grandfather, it really tears your coronary heart up. When individuals are laid to relaxation, that’s necessary.”
The DA stated a search warrant was executed later that night time at Gerlach’s house and a storage unit, which they stated led to the restoration of greater than 100 full or partial units of human and skeletal stays.
“Very merely, detectives walked right into a horror film come to life in that house,” Delaware County District Lawyer Tanner Rouse stated. “Perceive, a few of these are 200 years outdated. Some clearly a lot newer, there’s one with a pacemaker nonetheless connected to the physique.”
“It’s really, in essentially the most literal sense of the phrase, horrific,” Rouse stated. “I grieve for individuals who are upset by this, who’re going via this, who’re attempting to determine whether it is in reality considered one of their family members.”
Investigators later uncovered on-line exercise tied to Gerlach, together with posts in a “Human Bones and Cranium promoting group,” the place a purchaser thanked him for mailing “a doable teen” and “a baboon and a monkey,” they alleged.
Different social media posts confirmed Gerlach posing with a cranium, captioned, “driving a Harley, and slinging skulls,” in response to police.
Following a assessment of the proof, prosecutors permitted a sweeping listing of 500 prison fees in opposition to Gerlach, together with housebreaking, trespass, abuse of a corpse, theft by illegal taking of stolen property, and a number of counts associated to desecration of burial locations and public monuments.
Prosecutors stated Gerlach is at the moment being held on the George W. Hill Correctional Facility on $1 million money bail.
The investigation stays ongoing, and officers stated extra stays may nonetheless be recognized. They famous that it’s not clear if any stays have been bought or why Gerlach needed them.
