A historic Philadelphia-area cemetery is rolling out new security measures after authorities say a man carried out what prosecutors described as a “horror movie come to life,” allegedly stealing more than 100 skeletons.
Officials with Mount Moriah Cemetery, which spans Philadelphia and Delaware counties, announced the upgrades following the arrest of Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, who is accused of burglarizing and desecrating 26 mausoleums and underground vaults.
Gerlach was arrested last week and charged with dozens of offenses, including 26 counts each of burglary and criminal trespassing, 26 counts of intentional desecration of a public monument, and 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property.
The plan to implement new security measures was announced on social media by John R. Schmehl Jr., president of the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, who said the nonprofit group was working urgently to “address these violations of our sacred space.” Schmehl noted his own family’s ties to the cemetery, which date back to 1855.
The investigation began after members of the nonprofit group that helps preserve the cemetery contacted police to report widespread grave desecration, NBC News reported. Investigators later determined that Gerlach’s vehicle had been near the cemetery repeatedly during the time the burglaries occurred.
Detectives conducting surveillance on January 6 observed Gerlach’s car near the cemetery with “numerous bones and skulls in plain view in the back seat,” according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office.
“Gerlach was then seen exiting the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crow bar and other assorted items,” the DA’s office said. “The offender was brought into custody where he admitted to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains.”
In response to the alleged crimes, Schmehl said the group has fast-tracked an expansion of its surveillance camera system throughout the cemetery. The group is also repairing fencing along 61st Street, 63rd Street and Kingsessing Avenue, including a recently completed section near the SEPTA loop, and plans to patrol the cemetery at random hours to deter trespassing.
Schmehl said the group has already spent $20,000 repairing damaged mausoleums and gravesites and has been quoted $9,000 in materials to repair a single section of fencing. The nonprofit is now seeking donations to help fund the security upgrades.
The arrest of Gerlach came after a monthslong investigation into break-ins at Mount Moriah, where at least 26 mausoleums and vaults had been broken into since early November.
Investigators later searched Gerlach’s home and a storage unit in Ephrata, where they reported finding more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos and other skeletal remains.
“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,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said.
Investigators also recovered jewelry believed to have been taken from graves. In one case, a pacemaker was still attached.
“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life in that home,” Rouse said during a press conference last week. “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.”
Gerlach is being held on a $1 million bond. Police say the investigation remains ongoing as they work to identify the remains and locate surviving family members.
