Overview
- Police arrested Jonathan Christ Gerlach, 34, on Jan. 9 near Mount Moriah after spotting skulls and bones in his car and stopping him with a bag containing remains of two children, additional skulls and other bones.
- Searches of his Ephrata home and a storage unit recovered more than 100 human skulls along with long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos, burial jewelry and a pacemaker still attached to a body.
- Investigators report he admitted taking about 30 sets of remains and identified specific graves targeted during months of alleged thefts from mausoleums and vaults.
- Prosecutors filed 430 charges, including 26 counts of burglary, 100 counts of abuse of a corpse, 100 counts of theft and 26 counts of desecrating a historic burial place.
- He is held on $1 million cash bail with a Jan. 20 preliminary hearing scheduled, as authorities work to identify the remains and tighten security at Mount Moriah.