“Man charged with stealing skulls and bones from Mount Moriah Cemetery”

JJ

January 10, 2026 at 11:03 am #74795

Here’s another one to file under “wild things that happen on the perimeter of Philadelphia”…

A man was charged with stealing skulls and bones from a Philly cemetery. Police say he may have tried to sell them on Instagram. – Philadelphia Inquirer

Ok so this is bonkers, and tragic and revolting – but also kind of classic Philly perimeter nonsense along our route, right up there with the I-95 collapse, refinery explosions, runaway trolleys crashing into historic sites, and more.

And here’s one critical detail from the story:

“When detectives executed a search warrant at Gerlach’s home, in the 100 block of Washington Avenue, they said they found skulls arranged on shelves, and a collection of other bones, skeletons and mummified body parts, including feet and hands. They also found a torso hanging from the ceiling, said Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse.”

So the bones (and torso!) were not only stolen from the perimeter of Philadelphia…. but they were also relocated to and stored at another location on…. yep… the perimeter of Philadelphia. (Or basically close enough to count.)

[ EDIT: I got too excited there when I saw the address 100 Washington Ave and made the assumption that that was Washington Ave in Philly … turns out that these bones were being moved to 100 Washington Ave in Ephrata PA – still, this is some classic weird perimeter nonsense ]

Our 10th anniversary Walk season kicks off soon – who knows what we’ll encounter this time, but hopefully not desecrated graves.

All the upcoming events are now live here.

• This topic was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by JJ. Reason: correcting assumption about which 100 Washington Ave the Inquirer story was referencing

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