Pennsylvania authorities have charged a man with dozens of felony offenses after investigators say he stole more than 100 human skulls and other body parts from an abandoned cemetery outside Philadelphia, following a month-long investigation into repeated grave robberies, as reported by The New York Post.

Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old Jonathan Christ Gerlach, whose arrest Tuesday night brought an end to a string of break-ins at Mount Moriah Cemetery, a historic burial ground on Philadelphia’s outskirts.

Officers said the investigation began after repeated reports that mausoleums and burial vaults had been forcibly opened.

Man charged with stealing over 100 skeletal remains from PA cemetery | FOX 29 Philadelphia https://t.co/OxPIx0atCf

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The case took a dramatic turn when police observed bones and skulls visible in the back seat of a vehicle near the cemetery.

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That discovery led investigators to Gerlach, whose car had repeatedly appeared near the cemetery during the time the burglaries occurred.

Authorities said at least 26 mausoleums and vaults at Mount Moriah Cemetery had been damaged or broken into since early November.

Investigators reported that sealed underground vaults and mausoleums containing older burials were targeted, with stonework smashed to gain access to remains.

Gerlach was arrested as he walked back toward his car carrying a crowbar, police said. Officers also recovered a burlap bag that allegedly contained the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls, and other bones.

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Following the arrest, investigators searched Gerlach’s home in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, along with a storage unit connected to him.

Police said the searches uncovered more than 100 human skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos, and additional skeletal remains. Most of the items were reportedly found in the basement of the residence.

“They were in various states. Some of them were hanging, as it were. Some of them were pieced together, some were just skulls on a shelf,” Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said.

Authorities also recovered jewelry believed to have been taken from graves. In one instance, investigators found a pacemaker still attached to human remains, police said.

Mount Moriah Cemetery, established in 1855, is considered the largest abandoned burial ground in the United States, according to Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve the site.

The 160-acre cemetery in Yeadon contains an estimated 150,000 grave sites.

Police said Gerlach admitted to investigators that he took about 30 sets of human remains and showed authorities the graves he allegedly robbed.

However, officials noted that the total number of remains recovered significantly exceeded that figure.

“Given the enormity of what we are looking at and the sheer, utter lack of reasonable explanation, it’s difficult to say right now, at this juncture, exactly what took place. We’re trying to figure it out,” Rouse told reporters.

Gerlach has been charged with 100 counts each of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property.

He also faces multiple counts of desecrating a public monument, desecrating a venerated object, desecrating a historic burial place, burglary, trespassing, and theft.

Court records show Gerlach is being held on $1 million bond. No attorney was listed for him, and a message seeking comment was sent to a cellphone linked to him, according to police.

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