A 34-year-old Pennsylvania man named Jonathan Gerlach has been charged with multiple crimes after investigators found hundreds of human skulls, along with long bones, mummified feet, decomposing torsos, and other remains inside his home.
NBC News reports that even more bones were found in a storage locker. Authorities say some of the bones date back centuries. Others appear recent, including remains believed to be infants and at least one body with a pacemaker.
The investigation started at Mount Moriah Cemetery, a sprawling cemetery that stretches from Philadelphia into nearby Yeadon. It’s not fenced in and has multiple easy access points, which Gerlach took full advantage of.
Between early November and this week, at least 26 vaults and mausoleums were broken into or damaged.
Police Found More Than 100 Human Skulls in This Pennsylvania Basement
Mount Moriah is no run-of-the-mill cemetery. It’s got some historical significance to it. American legend Betsy Ross, the creator of the original American flag, was once buried there. Also, soldiers from nearly every American war are interred on its grounds.
Repeated desecrations were reported to police by a nonprofit group that takes it upon itself to preserve the cemetery. The cops surveilled the area, which eventually led them to Gerlach, who was promptly arrested on Tuesday while leaving the cemetery.
He was spotted by police holding a conspicuous burlap bag. When the cops opened it up, they found it was filled with the mummified remains of two small children, several skulls, and a loose collection of bones. A subsequent search of his home the following day found, as the district attorney described, “a horror movie come to life.”
Gerlach allegedly admitted to stealing around 30 sets of remains from Mount Moriah, but prosecutors believe many of the bones recovered may have come from other cemeteries as well. It’ll be a while sort through it all and determine exactly how many individual bodies all of the remains belong to.
He now faces more than 300 counts, including theft, receiving stolen property, abuse of the corpse, burglary, and desecration of venerated objects. He’s being held on a $1 million cash bail.
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