Yeadon Police, DA continue to notify families impacted by alleged Mount Moriah grave robber
Those in and around Delaware County are still reeling after the news that a local cemetery has been desecrated over the past several months. According to police, 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, 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.
The news has left area residents with one obvious question: has my family been impacted? The Yeadon Borough Police Department in coordination with the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, is actively investigating that very question.
In what the offices called “a disturbing and ongoing matter,” the authorities are still in the process of notifying those involved. Mount Moriah Cemetery, located in both Yeadon and Philadelphia, was founded in 1855. It is the state’s largest cemetery.
“Individuals who have a family member resting at Mount Moriah Cemetery in a mausoleum or underground burial vault are urged to contact the Yeadon Police Department as soon as possible,” said the department’s social media post. “At this time, the Yeadon Police Department is in the process of notifying families believed to be impacted by this crime.”
If you have friends or relatives buried in the cemetery, you are asked to reach out to the department. All correspondence should be directed via email to Henry Giammarco, the Chief of Police of the Yeadon Police Department at [email protected].
