Hearing continued for Pennsylvania man accused of stealing 100 skeletons from cemeteries

A preliminary hearing for a Pennsylvania man accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from cemeteries was continued Friday, after his attorney said “new information” has been discovered.

Jonathan Gerlach, 34, was arrested in January and charged with 26 counts of burglary, 26 counts of criminal trespass, 100 counts of abuse of corpse, 100 counts of receiving stolen property, 26 counts of intentional desecration of public monument and other related offenses. Gerlach is accused of stealing human remains from cemeteries in Delaware County, Philadelphia and Luzerne County.

Gerlach, who is being represented by a public defender, was initially expected to appear in a Delaware County courtroom on Friday, March 13, 2026, for a preliminary hearing. However, his attorney cited new information that has been presented to her office and said it needed to be “further investigated.” The attorney did not indicate what kind of information has been discovered, but prosecutors did not object to the hearing being continued.

“I worked in Kensington as a Philadelphia cop. I thought I had seen everything as a Philly cop, but this definitely blew me away. It’s horrific,” Chief Henry Giammarco with Yeadon Borough police said Friday after court, referring to the case.

According to investigators, 26 mausoleums and underground burial sites were burglarized or desecrated at Mount Moriah Cemetery. According to the criminal complaint, the thefts occurred between Nov. 7, 2025, and Jan. 6, 2026, in both the Delaware County and Philadelphia sections of the Mount Moriah Cemetery as well as a cemetery in Plains Township, Luzerne County.

Gerlach was arrested by Yeadon police in January after detectives were conducting surveillance in the Philadelphia section of Mount Moriah Cemetery on Cemetery and Chester avenues when they spotted a car with numerous bones and skulls in the backseat, according to officials. The driver – later identified as Gerlach – was then spotted leaving the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crow bar and other items, police said. 

Investigators took Gerlach into custody. He then allegedly admitted to stealing around 30 sets of human remains.

Investigators then executed a search warrant at his home on Washington Avenue in Ephrata and recovered 100 human skeletons as well as eight more human remains inside a storage locker that Gerlach owned on East Main Street in Ephrata, according to the criminal complaint.

Judy Prichard McCleary was at the Delaware County courthouse on Friday, because she has eight family members at Mount Moriah. She said they are in a mausoleum, which her family believes was disturbed by Gerlach.

“My brother said that…[he] was on the fence about being buried in a coffin or being cremated. He said, now ‘I know there’s no question in my mind I’m going to be cremated, because nobody’s going to dig me up,’” Prichard McCleary said.

The date for Gerlach’s new hearing has not been revealed yet but in court, it was announced it could be in the next three weeks.