A Pennsylvania cemetery is asking for donations after several graves were desecrated by an alleged grave robber who may have been selling the remains online.
A Pennsylvania cemetery is asking for donations after several graves were desecrated by an alleged grave robber who may have been selling the remains online.The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon said they're installing new cameras and starting patrols of the grounds after the disturbing grave robberies.
The historic cemetery is asking for donations to help fund a new fence around the perimeter of the grounds that straddle Southwest Philly and Delaware County.Donations can be made online here or by mail.Johnathan Gerlach, 34, is accused of desecrating dozens of graves within the cemetery and stealing the human remains of those who died decades ago. Police walked into a house of horrors at Gerlach's Ephrata home after they received a tip about a partially decomposed body in the basement of the property.Neighbors also became suspicious of the home after noticing flies swarming around the windows, according to investigators. Investigators uncovered 100 human remains at the home and eight bodies in a nearby storage locker.It's alleged that Gerlach may have been selling the remains online and traveled as far away as Chicago to broker the sale of a human skull. Investigators believe Gerlach, a Lancaster County native, used tools like crowbars and screwdrivers to break into mausoleums and burial vaults at the cemetery.Police were left in shock by the disturbing discovery, with Yeadon Police Chief Henry Giammarco calling it "an experience you don't want to relive."Investigators, Chief Giammarco said, are still looking into what exactly motivated Gerlach to collect the trove of human remains.
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