YEADON, Pa. (WPVI) — The Yeadon police chief says families across the country are reaching out in fear that their loved ones’ remains may be among more than 100 skeletons authorities say were recovered from the home and storage unit of a Lancaster County man.

“It’s a shock. It’s a shock you have to tell someone their family member is gone,” Yeadon Police Chief Henry Giammarco said.

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Giammarco said he spent much of the weekend responding to more than 60 messages from people with relatives buried at Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Some callers reached out from as far away as Hawaii and California, worried that the remains of their family members may have been taken.

“We’re answering phone calls, we’re answering emails because that’s their loved one. That’s important,” Giammarco said. “As I said before, rest in peace is rest in peace.”

Police say Jonathan Gerlach broke into mausoleums and underground crypts on the Yeadon side of Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Last week, investigators revealed that more than 100 skeletons, in various states of decay, were found in Gerlach’s basement and a storage unit. They believe he was selling the remains online.

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“To feel violated is putting it, is just the beginning of the feelings,” said former Philadelphia Police Captain Drew Techner.

Techner said he learned from Action News that the mausoleum of his relative, Francis Charlton, had been broken into. Charlton was the son of a Philadelphia City Councilman and operated a coal company before his death in 1908.

“My family has been buried in the cemetery for over 100 years,” Techner said.

He said mausoleums can be difficult to secure and have long been targets for criminals. As a police captain, he recalls investigating similar incidents two decades ago.

“I knew about 20 years ago these mausoleums were being broken into for the intent of burglaries,” he said. “As a former police captain in the city of Philadelphia, I knew what their motive was: it was to go in there and get valuables. But this takes it to a whole new level.”

Gerlach’s preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for Jan. 20, has been postponed. He faces more than 500 charges.

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