this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2026
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YEADON, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania man is facing more than 500 charges after investigators say they discovered more than 100 human skeletal remains in his home.

Authorities said 34-year-old Jonathan Gerlach broke into mausoleums and gravesites multiple times at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Yeadon, Pa. since Halloween.

top 34 comments
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[–] glibg@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 days ago

Phew, just a bone collector and not a serial killer.

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 121 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I mean, at least he didn’t kill them himself?

Still horribly fucked and I worry for his mental health, but not as bad as it could be.

[–] axexrx@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Yep. For a minute I read it as him getting caught dropping bones off... as in he had a backlog of 100 skeletons to dispose of after many more killings

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 18 points 2 days ago

So not a murderer, just morbid and weird? Given everything else in the news right now, this is almost wholesome.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 71 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 41 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don’t think I’ve ever hyperfixated on a hobby that hard before. He’s out there every day digging up at least one skeleton.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

I mean I don't think I've gotten 100 of anything done since Halloween.

[–] beneeney@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Was not expecting news from my hometown on Lemmy, daaang

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

If you have any relatives buried there, might want to check on them.

[–] RaoulDuke85@piefed.social 52 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

Eh. They are already dead. Who cares?

You can fuck my corpse when I die.

[–] BrundleFly2077@sh.itjust.works 41 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Cool beans. See ya then, neighbor!

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Donald Trump, 2026 (colorized)

[–] Thassodar@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago
[–] miseducator@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago

Real Frank Reynolds vibe right here!

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I hereby donate my body to freaky shit upon the primary condition that it is funny as all fuck.

If medical science wants my cadaver for training purposes, my will has a clause that they must also use me in the same school's theatre group as a comedy prop, manequin, puppet or ventrilloquist dummy. Limit one Hamlet a year. Unlimited stand up. Mannequin wearing school colours in the campus bookstore is also acceptable as a default resting place in between better uses as long as I am wearing classic Ray-Bans.

If some big tiddied goth girls or cultists wanna commune with the dead, conjure demons in profane rites or perform weird sex acts, I approve but the school colours and Ray-Ban rules still apply in perpetuity.

[–] Ach@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago

Dude that guy was bustin his balls to get those skeletons. What a pace.

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I don't want anybody to get an infection from fucking my corpse, they're going to have to sterilize me to have my corpse fucking permission.

We might want to start using spoilers on the comments in these threads, I think we crossed the NSFW line a ways back.

You don't fuck corpses at work? Your funeral home must be one of them fancy ones.

[–] 0ops@piefed.zip 3 points 3 days ago
[–] Headofthebored@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] yakko@feddit.uk 5 points 3 days ago

A latter day Gein maybe?

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

He should run for president.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago

Idk. Might not be nearly enough skeletons.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

He unironically would be a much better one than the one we have now.

[–] Lembot_0006@programming.dev 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

These news always lack the most interesting part: reasoning. Why did he collect bones? Something crazy? Artsy? Just business for selling bones to other crazy or artists.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago (1 children)

FTA:

"They are also investigating a Facebook group titled "Human Bones and Skull Selling Group," where Gerlach was tagged and pictured holding a skull."

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Selling them makes it less ok than if he were just a crazy guy collecting bones to make a skele-army.

[–] yakko@feddit.uk 10 points 3 days ago

I firmly agree, if that turns out to be the whole story. Criminals are so rarely driven by interesting motives. Always sex, money, or power.

If I was going to ruin my life with hideous crimes at scale, I would at least develop a compelling dramatic backstory.

He already did the hard part of joining Batman's rogues' gallery as "The Psychopomp" - the digging! Spend a day workshopping it, it's your entire life you're ruining for this!! How do people not see that?

Sorry. I just hate to see a bad script get greenlit...

[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago
[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

That is some Fight Club level side hustle

[–] seathru@quokk.au -2 points 3 days ago

Seth Briars?