Overview
- Detectives arrested Gerlach on Jan. 6 at Mount Moriah Cemetery as he carried a burlap bag containing the mummified remains of two small children, three skulls, and other bones.
- Searches of his Ephrata home and a storage locker uncovered more than 100 skulls, long bones, mummified hands and feet, two decomposing torsos, eight corpses, ashes, and jewelry believed taken from graves.
- According to search warrants, Gerlach told investigators he sold some remains online, and detectives linked him to social‑media accounts and a Facebook group focused on trading human bones.
- Police documented at least 26 mausoleums and vaults forced open since November, and officials say the recovered remains range from centuries old to recent, complicating identification.
- Gerlach is held on $1 million bail with a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 20, while the Friends of Mount Moriah add cameras and seek donations for a new perimeter fence.