A man in Pennsylvania is facing nearly 500 charges because of break-ins at graveyards and mausoleums.
Jonathan Gerlach, who is 34 years old, was caught on Tuesday, January 6, at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. The local District Attorney, Tanner Rouse, said that officers searched Gerlach’s home in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and found what looked like hundreds of human bones.
On Thursday, January 8, Gerlach was charged with 496 crimes. These include 100 counts of mistreating dead bodies, 100 counts of stealing, and 100 counts of having stolen items.
The other charges are for things like breaking into places, going onto land without permission, damaging public monuments, and disturbing burial sites.
Police said that on January 6, they were watching Mt. Moriah Cemetery when they saw bones and skulls in Gerlach’s car.
They said Gerlach came out of the cemetery with a bag, a crowbar, and other things.
Police arrested him, and they say he admitted to taking about 30 bodies.
When they searched his home and a storage unit, they found over 100 full or partial sets of human bones.
The District Attorney said it was like a “horror movie” and that some of the bones were from children, even babies. Some remains were old, even 200 years old, while others were more recent.
The District Attorney mentioned that one body still had a pacemaker.
He also said that the bones were in different conditions, some hanging, some put together, and some skulls on shelves.
Police are still trying to figure out who the bones belong to, where they came from, and how many bodies are involved.
They think the bones might have been stolen from other cemeteries nearby. It’s not clear if Gerlach was selling the bones or why he was collecting them.
The District Attorney said he feels sad for the people who are worried about whether the remains might be those of their loved ones.
Gerlach is being held with bail set at $1 million.
Police are also looking into a Facebook group called “Human Bones and Skull Selling Group” that Gerlach was connected to.
The investigation is still going on.
