Authorities say man stole over 100 skeletons from Delaware County cemetery
Sometimes the horror stories of real life are far scarier than those on the silver screen. And according to reports, one such saga is unraveling in Delaware County today as authorities investigate the allegations that a man has stolen more than 100 skeletons from a local cemetery.
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, is accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, Delaware County. According to a release from the Delaware County First Assistant District Attorney Tanner Rouse, the allegations were announced Jan. 8.
Reports state the thefts occurred between November 2025 and Jan. 6, 2026 and included stealing from both mausoleums and underground burial sites. After police had taken Gerlach into custody, having been caught Tuesday “desecrating a monument,” they executed a search warrant of his Ephrata home. There, investigators discovered 100 human skeletons, while eight more human remains were kept in a storage locker, Rouse told NBC10.
“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life the other night guys,” Rouse said in the NBC10 report. “This is an unbelievable scene that no one involved – from myself to the detectives to the medical examiners that are now trying to piece together what they are looking at, quite literally – none of them have ever seen anything like this before.”
CBS reports that Gerlach has been charged with 26 counts of burglary and criminal trespassing, in addition to charges relating to the abuse of a corpse, desecration, and theft or sale of venerated objects.
