तहखाने में थे सैकड़ों इंसानी खोपड़ी और सड़ते शव… शख्स की करतूत जान पुलिस के उड़े होश – philadelphia grave robbing human remains found in basement tstsd
Some bone fragments and a skull were found in the back seat of a car near an abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The police seized it and started investigating the matter. During the investigation, the police came across such a truth that they were shocked.
Bones and skulls found in the car led the police to a basement full of human parts. According to the Associate Press, police officials say it was collected by a man accused of stealing sets of about 100 human remains from graves.
Authorities say Tuesday night’s arrest concludes a months-long investigation into the thefts at Mount Moriah Cemetery. At least 26 graves were forcibly opened here since the beginning of November.
More than 100 skulls found in the basement
Investigators later recovered more than 100 human skulls, several long bones, mummified arms and legs, some decomposing bodies and numerous bone fragments from other skeletons in an underground crypt at the Ephrata home of 34-year-old Jonathan Crist Gerlach.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said all human organs and body remains were found in varying degrees of severity. Some of them were hanging. Some were dismembered and some skulls were simply kept on a shelf. Officials said many bodies were found in the basement, and they also recovered jewelry belonging to the graves. One dead body even had a pacemaker installed.
Police say Gerlach targeted graves and underground crypts in the cemetery, which was built in 1855. Mount Moriah Cemetery is a 160-acre historic site located in Yedon. There are an estimated 150,000 graves here. It is considered to be the largest abandoned cemetery in the country.
Used to dig graves and take out remains of dead bodies
The police were investigating incidents of grave theft. Then an investigator checked the license plate of Gerlach’s vehicle and discovered that he had passed Yeaden several times during the thefts. Police say the thefts mainly targeted sealed tombs and mausoleums containing old bodies, which were broken into or damaged by stone walls to access the remains inside.
He was arrested when he was returning to his car with an iron rod and a sack, police said. In that sack, officials found the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls and other bones. Police said Gerlach told investigators that he had stolen about 30 sets of human remains and showed them the graves from which he had stolen them.
Gerlach was charged with 100 counts of abuse of a corpse and receiving stolen property, as well as multiple counts of insulting a public monument, insulting a revered object, insulting a historic cemetery, burglary, trespassing and theft.
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