MEDIA, Pa. — While Judy Prichard McCleary holds faith that her family members’ spirits have moved on to heaven, she can’t shake the distress of learning that their final resting place was violated by a grave robber who targeted their family mausoleum.
McCleary discovered that five out of nine burial chambers in her family’s crypt were broken into, with the body of her great-great-great aunt among the stolen remains in a shocking crime spree that involved more than 100 bodies taken from Pennsylvania burial grounds.
“I believe their souls are in heaven. I still think it’s disruptive,” McCleary stated following Friday’s court proceeding where 34-year-old Jonathan Gerlach chose not to contest an evidentiary hearing. Gerlach faces approximately two dozen burglary charges plus numerous additional counts after investigators say he removed human remains from burial sites across multiple counties.
The disturbing case has drawn widespread media attention due to its shocking nature. While McCleary understands law enforcement has pressing matters involving the living, she and family members present at Friday’s hearing emphasized that crimes against the deceased still cause real harm to survivors. She’s pushing for legislative action to prevent online sales of human body parts, which authorities believe may have motivated these crimes.
“To be able to sell body parts on the internet, just appalls me. I think it should be stopped,” she stated.
Law enforcement took Gerlach into custody in January close to Mount Moriah Cemetery on Philadelphia’s outskirts. Officers reported seeing skeletal remains and skulls visible in his vehicle’s rear seat, which led to searches of his residence and a storage facility in Ephrata. Investigators discovered over 100 human skulls, preserved hands and feet, and other human remains.
Authorities also found personal items they believe came from the graves, including jewelry and a medical pacemaker that remained connected to human remains. Gerlach’s formal arraignment is scheduled for June 3, though his attorney declined comment and indicated his client likely won’t attend.
During Friday’s hearing, Gerlach remained jailed and appeared wearing glasses with his hair in a tight bun and a large neck tattoo, responding courteously to standard judicial questions.
Police arrested him in January as he returned to his vehicle from Mount Moriah Cemetery carrying a crowbar. Investigators found preserved remains of two young children, three skulls, and additional bones inside a burlap sack. Gerlach admitted to taking approximately 30 sets of human remains and guided investigators to the burial sites he had targeted, according to authorities.
Mount Moriah Cemetery, established in 1855, spans 160 acres along the Philadelphia-Yeadon border and contains roughly 150,000 burial sites.
The Prichard family built their mausoleum in the early 1900s under the direction of McCleary’s great-great-grandfather, Jonathan Prichard, an Irish immigrant who established a grocery business. Family stories claim he created the first paper bag, though no official patent exists to verify this family legend.
Before his own death, Prichard relocated the remains of two children who had died previously into the mausoleum, where he and other family members would eventually be laid to rest.
“It just made me sick to my stomach that anybody would want to do that,” McCleary said regarding the crimes. “I think the man needs help.”
