This is an ongoing investigation into a current news story. Everything is still unfolding. I will update this page with new information as it becomes available.
Last Update: January 16th, 2026 1:45 pm
Jonathan Christian Gerlach – Modern Day Grave Robber
I don’t typically cover ‘breaking news’ type stories on this website or in my podcast episodes but this story grabbed my attention and hasn’t let go. I’ve done so many pieces on grave robbing throughout history and just never considered that it would still happen today.
But it is.
“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life.”
– District Attorney Tanner Rouse
Ephrata, Pennsylvania
In a quiet Ephrata neighborhood in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the brick row house at the end of the block seemed unremarkable. But what police found inside on January 6, 2026, defied comprehension.
There were bones — not a few, not dozens, but over 100 full or partial human remains. Skulls are displayed on shelves. Skeletons hanging from the ceiling. Bags of femurs and ribs. Some dated back centuries. Others showed signs of modern implants, including a still-intact pacemaker.
The man arrested? Jonathan Christian Gerlach, age 34 — musician, oddities dealer, social media curator… and now, accused grave robber.
Exhibit A: The House in Ephrata
The investigation began when detectives noticed a vehicle regularly parked at the long-neglected Mount Moriah Cemetery in West Philadelphia — an urban sprawl of tombs, crypts, and family vaults dating back to 1855.
Following surveillance and a tip-off, police spotted Gerlach leaving the cemetery at night, carrying a crowbar and burlap sack. In the back seat of his car: bones. His home in Ephrata, and a nearby storage unit, were raided that night.
The next morning, investigators announced one of the most shocking discoveries in local law enforcement history.
Exhibit B: The Man and the Motive
Gerlach wasn’t just hoarding bones. His public social media persona was steeped in the aesthetic of death. He called himself a “curator of specimens”, showcasing skulls in ornate setups and using hashtags like #humanskulls, #osteology, and #wunderkammer.
His Instagram — @deadshitdaddy — features professionally staged photos of real skulls with gothic flair. On Facebook, he belonged to groups like “Human Bones and Skull Selling Group” with over 5,000 members. One buyer publicly thanked him for shipping “a possible teen, a baboon, and a monkey”. The post is gone now and likely part of the investigation.
In these communities, the line between scientific specimen and grave-robbing artifact is not just blurred — it’s dissolved.
Exhibit C: The Charges
The District Attorney’s Office has filed:
100 counts each: Abuse of a Corpse, Theft by Unlawful Taking, and Receiving Stolen Property
26 counts: Burglary
78 counts: Criminal Trespass
26 counts: Desecration of Historic Burial Grounds
Additional misdemeanors: Criminal Mischief, Defiant Trespassing
Held on $1 million cash bail at George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Gerlach’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 20, 2026.
Exhibit D: Digital Evidence
His Instagram declared that skulls were “ethically acquired” — but police reports tell a different story. Gerlach allegedly rappelled into mausoleums, broke open vaults, and stole from interred tombs.
Mount Moriah families now face the chilling possibility that their ancestors were among those desecrated.
Exhibit E: The Persona
Before the skulls, Gerlach was a frontman — literally. He appeared in band photos and YouTube interviews, even producing music with projects like “Blind/Bird” and “The Road to Milestone.” His creative identity always flirted with darkness, but now investigators are asking whether the art was a mask — or a message hiding in plain sight.
Exhibit F: The Detectives
The case was cracked by Detective Leah Cesanek (Yeadon PD) and Detective Chris Karr (Delaware County CID), with support from the Ephrata Police and Middle Creek Search & Rescue (including K9 Kody).
DA Tanner Rouse described the scene as “horrific in the most literal sense of the word.” His team is urging families with loved ones buried in mausoleums at Mount Moriah to come forward for possible victim identification.
Exhibit G: The Crime Scene
Mount Moriah Cemetery, founded in 1855, was once a grand necropolis of mausoleums, monuments, and winding burial paths. It served Philadelphia’s diverse communities, welcoming people of all races, religions, and backgrounds — even setting aside military and Muslim burial sections. But after years of legal limbo and abandonment, the cemetery fell into decay.
That is, until The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery stepped in.
Formed in 2011, this volunteer-run nonprofit has worked tirelessly to restore and protect the cemetery’s 200 acres. Their mission is both sacred and civic: to make the grounds accessible to grieving families, while turning a site of loss into a peaceful green space for walking, reflection, and history.
It was these volunteers who first noticed signs of new, unexplained damage: broken mausoleum locks, tampered vaults, disturbed gravestones. Their observations, photographs, and reports helped law enforcement identify patterns, prompting the surveillance operation that led to Gerlach’s arrest.
Without their vigilance, this case may have gone unnoticed far longer.
Two Hours North in Luzerne County
Another disturbing incident now possibly linked to Jonathan Gerlach is the Good Shepherd Memorial Park grave desecration case, a deeply personal tragedy for Plains Township Commissioner Peter Biscontini. In early November 2025, two sets of human remains were stolen from the long-neglected mausoleum — one of which belonged to Biscontini’s great-grandmother, Mary Cappellini Piga. The mausoleum, condemned in 2015, has been in disrepair for years, with owners unresponsive and long absent.
Police confirmed partial remains were found, and the crime is still under active investigation. Notably, officials hinted that suspects are being looked into, and local funeral directors are now appealing to the Pennsylvania Attorney General to facilitate relocation of 38 remaining bodies due to safety concerns. While no names have been officially released, the methodical nature of the burglary — involving the forced opening of crypts and removal of remains — points to a level of planning that aligns with Gerlach’s now-infamous pattern of premeditated, morbid acts.
Exhibit H: Prior Arrests
In November of 2025, Gerlach was arrested by the East Earl Township Police Department on charges of Retail Theft. This is unrelated to the current grave robbing charges.
In September of 2025, Jonathan Gerlach was arrested for an array of charges including driving an unregistered vehicle and violation of use of certificate of inspection. Back in June of 2023 he was pulled over for a violation on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Key Questions
Were any remains sold, mailed, or shipped across state lines?
Can forensic specialists identify the victims through DNA or dental records?
Was Gerlach working alone, or as part of a broader network?
Final Word (for now)
This is not just the story of one man’s descent into the macabre — it’s a reckoning with what happens when the dead are forgotten, and when online subcultures potentially turn the remains of human beings into collectibles.
Listen to Episode 99 – Bones in the Backseat: The Ongoing Story of Jonathan Gerlach
