SERIALously - 356: 100+ Skeletons Found in Man’s Home, Alabama House of Horrors & Nick Reiner Updates

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

An arrest has finally been made in the murders of dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife, Monique. Nick Reiner’s arraignment has been pushed to February after his defense attorney, Alan Jackson, stepped down from the case. A shocking child neglect case unfolds after a 14-year-old girl was abandoned by her parents and left to live alone in a mobile home for over a year in horrific conditions. And investigators uncover more than 100 skeletal remains inside the home of Jonathan Gerlach, following a disturbing series of grave robberies..If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. .🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks..🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel!🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives.💚 Spotify🔴 YouTube🎙️ All Other Platforms.📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieeliseTikTok: @_annieeliseSubstack: @annieeliseFacebook: @10toLife.⭐SponsorsSkims: Shop my favorite bras at http://Skims.com.Dime Beauty: Head to http://DimeBeauty.com for 20% off with code PODCAST20..👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon.🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a CaseAbout Annie: www.annieelise.comFor Business Inquiries: [e-mail].📚 Episode Sources 10TV | 6ABC | ABC News | ABC3340 | AP News | CNN | Delaware County DA | Facebook | Fox 10 TV | Fox News | Inquirer | KBTX | LA Times | Law & Crime | NewsNation | New York Post | People | The Independent | TMZ | WKRG••••••••••••••••••🚨Disclaimers1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Really quickly before we get started, guys, we noticed in the editing process that something was wrong with the cables on Amy's mic. So you will notice a little bit different audio level than usual. We have fixed it for episodes going forward. But if your ears are hating you in this episode, I am very, very sorry. Hopefully it's not so bad, but wanted to let you know what was going on. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialessly with me, your host, Annie E. Lees. I've also got co-host in the building, Amy Colette. Hello. Hello. Hello. I feel like the last two weeks, yeah, the last two weeks you haven't been on because last week I was sick and I was doing it literally from my toilet with norovirus off camera. Don't worry, guys, TMI. And then the week before that, we took like a little break because of the holidays. So I did the re-release of the candy. Montgomery episode because now that Netflix has bought, what is it, HBO Go, HBO Max, whatever the hell they're going by, it's now on Netflix and it was like trending, so I re-released

that case. So now you're back. I haven't been here since our duet. Oh, the duet. The duet, the Christmas duet, God. I think we actually got a lot more positive response. No, like, I was expecting to get dragged me. No, honestly. I know they're all you guys harmonized so well together. I'm all, okay, first of all, we ain't singers. I'd like to tell you that we have an album coming. No, oh, God, could you imagine? No, actually, sorry, guys. I know some of you hate when we just, like, banter and talk to each other, but I haven't

even talked to you about this yet. I know I sent you the TikTok. Speaking of podcasters who are singing, the toast. Oh. And the masked singer. So I have never watched the show The Masked Singer ever, but I've heard about it. But when Jenny McCarthy was on the toast a few weeks ago, before, there was rumors that Claudia was on.

I remember listening and being like, that could be a fun just show to have on the TV and see if you could guess who it is. I don't know much about it. But now it totally makes sense why she had Jenny McCarthy on because it hasn't been confirmed. She is on the masked singer singing.

I know that voice anywhere. I did. Yeah, I saw a clip that she was actually on it, but I've heard her in the past on her podcast say that's like her dream. And she would love to be on it. Yeah. She's been posting more of her singing.

So maybe, yeah. So basically, guys, consider three weeks ago my formal audition for the masked singer. No, I'm just kidding. No, but also, I'm trying so hard to weasel my way into traitors. Like, you have no idea. I need to call Derek and be like – I think I've even told Derek already because he was on it. And I think I need to be like, look.

And you'd like – make the call. And I'd be serving looks. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be great. It'd be great. Okay, anyway, no, too much. Too much. I you can tell it's a wild morning literally you've probably on one with your Celsius I know okay

here's the thing you guys know I'm a diet coat girlie through and through I tried Celsius for the very first time back in October when jeremiah did the hundred mile marathon in big bear one of the doctor friends who were with us had one and they're like oh do you want to try this but like be one energy to like be on the side of yeah just to just to crew my husband during the marathon I needed a boost of energy because that's what of low-life sack of shit I am. No, so they gave me one and it was like the Coke flavor one, but they said they're like, be warned, you're going to be super jittery. It's like crack in a can. And I was like, well, I've heard about Celsius for a long time. Like, let me just try it. First of all, it tasted just like Diet Coke, not just like, but

pretty close. So I was like, oh, okay, like it's not like Red Bull. I could get on board with this. I didn't feel jittery. I didn't feel wired, but that's probably because I take like three cans a Diet Coke to my face a day and like my caffeine levels are already through the roof. However, here's my rationale, okay? I don't drink coffee. Sometimes I will, but not very often. I usually am a tea drinker, but the tea I like is a chai tea latte from Starbucks has like tons of calories in it isn't great for you. I'm not going to just crack open a Diet Coke at seven in the morning, even though I've been there, done that, wrote the book, seen the movie, have done that, but like I'm not going to make that a daily habit where I'm just like going into 7-Eleven and getting a big hope of Diet Coke.

It's honestly, it sounds really good. Like pause recording. Let's go. But I was like the other day when we were on vacation, I was like, let me get a Celsius. It'll wake me up. In my mind, I think it's clear liquid. So it won't stain my teeth like Diet Coke or coffee. But it'll give me the same like boost of energy with caffeine that Diet Coke does.

So I bought one. It must have been in Utah. or I ordered one or whatever. So then Jeremiah goes grocery shopping yesterday and gets like 12 of them because he thinks now, it's so Jeremiah. He thinks like, oh, because my wife has had Celsius once in her life, she loves them now, which bless his heart. But he also got all of the like not flavors that I told him I liked. So this morning when I was like getting up and getting the house ready and getting the kids ready for school, I was like, I'm not going to order tea because I've already gained a lot of weight since vacation and like I'm trying to filter things out. I'm not going to

crack open a Diet Coke, let me crack open a Celsius. So now, here I am at 9 a.m., cracking open the Celsius. We've already talked for about six minutes of pre-episode banter that has nothing to do with true crime because I guess I am wired. Your chatty-cathy. Moral of the story, it is cracking a can. So here I am. You see it put in a tumbler. That's a good idea, but I don't know if it would still hit the same with like a straw. Because you know how when you have a straw, it goes faster? Like, the intake is more aggressive, which is what I love for a Fountain Diet Coke. But like, it might be too much. So let me take a sip of my Kiwi strawberry Celsius, not sponsored, but Celsius, hit up your girl.

I know. I do need a coat. It's not that good. It doesn't sound good if I'm being really honest. It's not that good. So I don't know. We'll see where, we'll see where today takes us. I like end up recording like 12 episodes today. I'm just like my eyes aren't even blinking. I'm just going. For us. Okay, okay. Or let's get serious, guys.

No, okay. So today is obviously headline highlights where we are going through all the different cases that are happening right now in the true crime world. And, well, I was kind of surprised in a happy way that there weren't a ton of cases to cover this week. I was like, oh, maybe we're like getting our shit together as, you know, the humankind. there are a lot of cases that have the same kind of thread weaved throughout them, which is very disturbing. But before we get into those new cases, let's do a couple updates really quick. So a lot of you guys have been requesting that I talk about this case, and we did talk a little bit about it last week on headline highlights,

but it's the case that is breaking out of Ohio, and it is the Tepe case with the dentist and his wife who were found brutally murdered inside their home. So let me give you a quick little recap on this before I get into the case. the updates. So right after Christmas, police responded to a home and they found Spencer and Monique Tepe shot and killed inside. But then they realized even something more disturbing. Their two young kids were inside the house as they found their parents. But the kids, luckily, were alive. They had not been hurt. But at this point, everything pretty much shifted in the investigation. Because now, you're not just talking about a double homicide. You're also talking about children who were there inside this family home and their parents just kind of killed and wiped out in a single night

with a ton of unanswered questions left. So pretty quickly, the investigator started looking at Monique's ex-husband, Michael McKee. He and Monique had been married from 2015 to 2017. So although not super recent, they were trying to see if there were any connections anywhere because this looked very deliberate, it looked very targeted. So they, of course, were going to look into people who were close with the couple, right? So from everything that had been reported, their divorce was not messy at all. It was also a very short-lived marriage, two years, right?

Two years, almost 10 years ago now. There were no big public blow-ups, nothing that would on the surface immediately make you think that things could ever end up this way. But sure enough, they did make an arrest, and that is who they arrested. They say that Michael shot both Monique and her current husband, Spencer,

and then fled the state. So he ended up being arrested in Illinois, where he was living at the time. And this was after investigators say that they had tracked him using a mix of surveillance footage, vehicle information, and digital data that placed him at the family's home and also showed his movements afterwards. But like I said, prosecutors are calling it a very targeted, very intentional act. Not random, not a break-in gone wrong, something that was methodical, thought out, and planned, It makes you wonder, not only what was the underlying motive that made him do this, but how long had that hatred and resentment been brewing? If they have been divorced for almost, you know, just shy of a decade, this is something that must have been in motion for a while, I would imagine. And we have been doing a lot of research in this.

We have pulled so many documents, so much information. So, yes, a deep dive is coming very, very soon. and some of those questions will be answered. But he is now facing two counts of murder, and he's also in the process of being extradited back to Ohio, which I just saw that the other day he waived his right to extradition or whatever. So that's kind of where we're at with everything. But like I said, through our research,

there is a lot below the line here regarding 911 calls that were made and accusations made well before the murders, some things from the past. So it's too much to lay out. in a headline highlights episode. So the deep dive is coming. It will be here sooner than you think, probably within the next couple of days. So make sure if you are watching the video version of this, take a quick second, press the red subscribe button so that you don't miss when that comes out. And if you are listening to the audio version of this episode, make sure, wherever the

the little three dots in the corner are or whatever is going on, that you are following the podcast so that you don't miss that. Because it has become clear that there is so much more going on here. details, timelines, context, so much that we haven't even touched on or have started to unpack yet. So that is coming very soon. In another case update, I want to talk about the Nick Reiner case because this case took a pretty unexpected turn last week. Or was it last week? Yeah, I guess it was end of last week. So as you know, Nick Reiner is charged in the death of his parents. And literally, right before he was supposed to be back in court, his defense attorney, Alan Jackson, suddenly just stepped away from the case, which Alan Jackson, as a reminder, isn't just any attorney. It's the same

guy who notoriously represented Karen Reid, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey. He used to be, I believe he used to be an L.A. prosecutor, and then he changed over to a defense attorney. I'm pretty positive that that's his, you know, I guess you call it resume. I don't even know, whatever. But Alan released a statement saying, quote, that there were circumstances beyond our control and that he just could not continue representing Nick. However, he didn't explain what that actually means, what those circumstances are, but what made it even stranger is that even after dropping him as a client, Alan still went out of his way to say that Nick is not guilty, specifically that he is not guilty under California law. But then he stopped short of giving any more detail. So this obviously raised a lot of eyebrows, right?

First and foremost, why is he no longer representing him, which my gut tells me it's the money. I'm sure the siblings aren't on board with paying for this high price fancy attorney. Obviously, we know Nick doesn't have a ton of money to his name either. So that's why the public defender is now representing him. But also, Alan Jackson's very carefully curated choice of words of him not being guilty under California law. When we also saw outside of the courthouse a couple of weeks ago when he said, don't jump to conclusions. There's a lot more to this. We don't know where this is going to go.

we have heard of the rumors that Nick had suffered from schizophrenia and different mental health disorders and things like that. I think that they are going to say that he was clinically and legally insane at the time of these murders. That's just my guess. I'm not an attorney. I'm not a doctor. But I think that that's what they are going to say and what they're going to try to prove that he wasn't in his right mind at the time of these murders so that under California law, he cannot be held responsible and that he is not guilty of murder. So again, very carefully chosen words. And I could be completely freaking wrong here, but that's where I'm going with this. That's what I am thinking. So like I said, there's been a lot of speculation that this whole thing just came down to money and that that's why Alan Jackson is no longer representing him. They think that maybe the family has cut any sort of financial support from Nick and that there's other things that play behind the scenes. But we also know that Alan Jackson is definitely not, you know, what you would call budget friendly. in terms of his cost, he is a very high-priced attorney, so I think that all of that really does align. So because of the last-minute switch, as I mentioned, Nick is now being represented by the LA County Public Defender's Office. And his arraignment has been pushed back to February to give his new defense team time to get up to speed, gather all the discovery, the evidence, and, you know, figure out their strategy.

So we'll see what happens. We will see what the family says if it ends up being confirmed that this all does come down to, you know, financial support. and what the new defense is going to now argue for Nick. But speaking of Alan Jackson, I don't know if any of you listening have watched yet, and I don't know, Amy, if you have watched. Over the weekend, a new Lifetime movie came out about Karen Reed. And it has my girl Katie Cassidy in it. She stars as Karen Reid. Other homework, too.

There's so many rocks. Oh, my God. Well, his and hers isn't, yeah, is fiction, but it's very good. I just finished it last night. Yeah, so the new Lifetime movie, I have a lot. had a chance to watch it yet, but I have seen reaction clips out there. And we're like Aiden, Turtle Boy, the, you know, the guy who like really took the story and gave it a lot of legs. He's even featured in it, not him himself, but somebody like, an actor portrays him,

like, because he had such a big role in all this. So I'm interested to watch it and see what kind of perspective they give. And I love Katie Cassidy. I think she's great. I never would have thought of her as being somebody to play Karen. No, but now I can kind of see it now that you said that. And they did great with like the makeup and the wig and all of that. So I don't know. I'm a sucker for Lifetime. I love Lifetime movies.

Honestly, I've been a sucker since I was like too young to be watched like 20 years old. And I would just watch LMN, the Lifetime Movie Network on repeat. And I saw every Lifetime movie that had ever aired. So maybe I need to get back to my roots and like watch more Lifetime. I mean, I'm down to watch it. Maybe that is we should have an office watch party at lunch. Elizabeth. No, I'm just kidding. Okay, so yeah, we'll see what goes on with that, but those are the updates. Now, as I had said, the cases, the new cases that Amy and I are going to be sharing with you today, it's interesting because while there weren't as many to choose from, which is very, you know, happy, you know, like that makes me feel good that, okay, great, there's not so much true crime out there right now. Maybe we're getting our shit together finally as, like, a nation, which we're obviously not. But they all have, like, the same undercurrent. And it's like, all true crime usually does.

But like family, mother, stepfather. House of horrors, skeletons, like weird stuff. So I know you found this first one. So why don't, and I don't even know much about it. So why don't you break it down for us? Yeah. And today's, I know we often say we have more questions and answers after researching some of these. And this one is similar only because I could kind of put myself at the age of this young girl.

And I have some questions. So I'm interested to hear what you guys think. So this next one comes out of Mobile, Alabama, and it's just really heartbreaking to hear because it involves a 14-year-old girl who was left behind by her mother and stepfather and forced to survive on her own for almost a year, inside of a home that was filled with filth and animals and just super poor living conditions. And the whole time she was left alone, her mother and stepfather were actually working in a completely different state. According to investigators, this came to light when the teenager was seen stumbling down the road outside of a Dollar General store in Bull Bill County. The employees noticed she appeared disoriented and unwell,

and then they ended up contacting the authorities. And when the deputies arrived, the girl was reportedly complaining of dizziness and had a lot of stomach pain. And so eventually she was taken in the hospital for evaluation. The welfare check would ultimately expose what law enforcement says was a year-long abandoned. When deputies followed up at the home where the girl saw, said she had lived, what they found was very disturbing. Authorities say the mobile home was an extremely unsanitary condition, and you can see in the photos that the floors were covered in dog feces, urine, trash was piled throughout the entire residence, and there was even an infestation of roaches and bugs. And inside the home, there were seven dogs, and not just seven dogs,

but one that was found dead inside a closet. An animal control ended up removing, all of the dogs that were found still alive inside the home. The girl had told investigators that she had been living completely alone since February 24, shortly after she turned 14. According to police, her mother and stepfather had moved out of the state, leaving her behind with the dogs, and she had absolutely no adult supervision. The worker says she's dialed for help after seeing the girl stumbling outside, and it quickly turned into a child abuse investigation.

Mobile County deputies responded to the Dollar General on Jarrett Road January 4th after worker Jessica Smitherman called saying a young girl was staggering. Her stomach hurt and she kept passing out. It looked like she had not had a bath in months. She had dog hair all over her clothes. She smelled very bad. So I knew she needed some kind of help. The 14-year-old was taken to the hospital where investigators learned she had been living alone in a mobile home since around her birthday. last February.

The condition of the mobile home was just deplorable and not something that any human or even any animal should be living in. Sheriff Paul Birch says deputies found urine, feces, trash, and seven dogs on the property. One dead inside a closet. And that's where the timeline becomes a little more alarming because investigators say the girl reported that her last in-person contact with her mother and stepfather was around Halloween 2025, so months ago. Since then, she has only communicated with them through Snapchat messages. The girl said her mother would occasionally arrange food deliveries, such as Walmart or DoorDash,

but otherwise she was left to fend for herself, including caring for all of those animals inside that disgusting, filthy home. And inside the home, deputies also reportedly found a handwritten note, which this is absolutely heartbreaking, that painted a painful picture of what life looked like for this poor child. The note was titled, quote, how many times mom tells me that she can't pick me up, exclamation mark. And it had a total of 87 tally marks, which investigators believe should repeated promises from the mother that were just never kept. The girl's mother has been identified as Marcelle Lynn Partilla and her stepfather as Eugene Medrano. According to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, the couple had been living and working in Pensacola, Florida, roughly about an hour away

while the girl was left alone in Alabama. When questioned, the mother claimed she left her daughter behind because the girl didn't want to move without for animals, which she had referred to as service animals. However, authorities said that it was unclear whether the dogs were legitimate service animals, regardless, they emphasize that a minor can't legally be left alone in those conditions. Both adults were arrested and charged with child abuse and multiple counts of animal cruelty. They were booked into the county metro jail and as of most recent reports, the investigation still remains active and additional charges have not been ruled out. Authorities have said what ultimately saved this girl's life was that the concerned employee chose not to turn a blind eye

and actually made the call to authorities. And otherwise, this poor girl may have continued living in these awful living conditions. And so that really saved her. And we always say, if you see something, say something. As with most cases involving minors, many details have not yet been released. What we know right now is just based on law enforcement and the court filings. But even at this early stage, the facts laid out by investigators raise serious questions about how a child could be left alone for this long and how so many of these.

warning signs left unnoticed. And that's kind of where my questions came in because I was thinking back to being 14 and a lot of my friends were left alone, you know, while their parents are at work or sometimes like even on a vacation, they had an older sibling. And while I certainly couldn't have like sustained caring for myself or possibly all these animals, I think I would have been able to like keep things a little more sanitary or at least known to call for help. Unless she was raised in those conditions. That's kind of what I was saying. And maybe she didn't, yeah, maybe she didn't know any better.

And I know they were only an hour away, even though technically it's a different state. But I wonder, where they, I know they had said that they were sending food deliveries here and there, were they also giving her money. Because how was she paying for the surviving dogs food? I would imagine they probably never were groomed. And maybe that was also part of the bugs and the fleet. and things like that. But was she not in school? Was she going to school? Was she going to school dirty? Why did nobody call? If she didn't go to school, why weren't those phone calls made? Like, why communicate from primarily through social media? Right. The parents were doing something for work that, like, did they not want to be

tracked because they knew they shouldn't have left their daughter alone or because what they were doing? Yeah. Why? Yeah. Why communicate through Snapchat? And like, I'm sorry. So why the long period of time without any communication at all? Right. It seems like they were kind of just, I mean, in my opinion, over being parents. Like they were like, you fend for yourself. And then for them for the mom to say, well, she didn't want to leave behind her animals. I don't care.

You are the parent. Like, you reel it in. But I was wondering, is that also motivation maybe why the girl didn't call? Because maybe she really did have an attachment to the animals and knew if she had to go that she would be leaving them. And so I feel like there is a lot more questions. That's why I was asking. I'm curious to know what everyone thinks because I feel like there's a lot. There's, yeah.

And because you're right, because she's a minor, it's not all going to be released right now. It'll come out and like, I hate this expression in drips and drabs. But I know. I hate that expression. But like it'll slowly start coming out. But it seems to me like, I don't know. I don't want to jump to conclusions. But it seems like deadbeat parents, they left her to go do their own thing, work far away.

which if it's an hour away also, commute. Why do you need to live in another state? Like, why do you leave your daughter? Make the hour drive every day if you're working there. Yeah, a lot of questions. Was she in school? I don't know. It's interesting.

I know. Because I feel like oftentimes you see people. I mean, I'm sure her being a minor was. And, you know, like, I'm thinking there's a case. What is her name, Lacey Fletcher? I might be getting it confused with another case, but there was a similar house of horrors. a couple of years ago. I think it was Lacey Fletcher. I'm not entirely sure. I know everybody's

probably screaming right now in their car. It's this, Annie, it's this. But where their child was special needs. And that's why they left her because they didn't want to take care of her. Not saying that this child was. However, if there were feces, urine, things like that, either she grew up in those conditions and didn't know any better, or maybe there was some sort of element there. And that's why she also needed service animals or things like that. And maybe that's why things got so out of control or unruly. I don't know. I don't know. But when you look at those photos and it's just unbelievable that someone would know that their child is living in that condition. Because you know as a parent what your kids are capable of doing. Absolutely.

And regardless, that's far, far, far too long. I feel bad denying Emmy Lou her third pack of chocolate muffins. Like, you know what happens. True. I know she's so scary. Oh my gosh. Awful. Okay, I've talked to you guys about this before, but before skims, underwear, bras, all of that, it honestly kind of just felt like an afterthought for me. I would spend my time picking out an outfit, then I would put on this bra that was super uncomfortable or underwear that like didn't sit right or would like low-key just like ruin my whole day because it was like ripping and bad quality, which I'm not trying to throw anybody under the bus, but I'm looking at you, VS, some pink colors, read between the lines.

I was like loyal through and through, never really realizing like, oh, you don't have to stay with this brand. You can try something new. And Amy is actually the first one who ever told me about skims. And once I tried it about a year ago, I've never looked back. Skims just completely changed everything for me. So now I reach for any time I'm getting dressed because it actually feels good on my body. My favorite right now is they're cotton jersey underwear because it doesn't stretch out.

it doesn't lose its shape, it doesn't rip, yet somehow it is still just insanely soft, even after a million washes. And for their bras, I'm a brawlet girlie through and through, and their fits everybody's scoop braulet is a constant in my life because I feel like I need support, but I hate feeling restricted. And it's one of the only brawets I have found that really does both, where I'm not like falling out of it, but it's also not like digging into me or super uncomfortable. So it just makes me feel comfortable, confident, and put together from the moment I get dressed. And that really does set the tone for the day, right? I also have branched out now. I've tried their pajamas, their lounge wear, different things like that. And all of it,

the quality is just really, really great, really, really soft. So I tell everybody about skims. I kind of am kicking myself for not getting on it sooner. So if you want bras and underwear that actually work with your body, go check out my favorites at skim's.coms. And after you place your order, make sure to let them know that we sent you. Just select podcast in the survey and then choose my show from the drop down menu so that they know that I sent to you. But again, that is skims.com. Okay, can we talk about winter skin for a second? Because every single year, the second that the weather drops, my skin goes from totally fine to like dry, tight, super pissed off. Right now I'm having like the worst breakout of my life actually. And it's really pissing me off.

I don't know if it's hormonal or what's going on, but I'm trying to get ahead of it. And so I recently started using Dime. And honestly, it has made a really big difference. And that's why I'm loving Dime and why you should check it out, because they have everything from skin care to body care to fragrances. And it's all clean, effective, and it's made without a bunch of harsh stuff, which I know a lot of us try to avoid. But their hyluronic acid serum is a lifesaver.

It soaks in fast. It feels super lightweight. It gives you that plump hydrated look that every person. everybody's always chasing. And then you can layer on the dewy day cream on top of it. And it gives the softest glow without feeling greasy. It's almost like that glow where it's like, oh, you must be drinking three liters of water a day, which we all know I only drink Diet Coke. So I mean, thank you, Dime, for that. But while you're there, you also have to check out their fragrances. If you haven't tried seven summers yet, it definitely went viral for a reason. It's like this warm,

creamy, beautiful scent. Lots of people leave amazing five-star reviews on it. You got to check. it out. Plus, all dime products are vegan, cruelty-free, and made with total transparency. So no weird ingredients, just stuff that actually works. So if your skin is begging for hydration, head to dimebeautcom for 20% off with code podcast 20. That's dimebeautom, or you can also find dime on Amazon and Ulta. Your winter skin will thank you. Again, that is dimebeautom Code Podcast 20. Okay, so this next case, kind of a common thread, but I have been getting so many DMs, comments, story forwards, tags, like, you name it, about this case.

And honestly, it's one of those stories where the more you learn about it, the harder it is to, like, wrap your head around how this even not only happened, but how it went on for so long. So this involves a man named Jonathan Gerlatch, 304. years old from Pennsylvania. And he is now accused of carrying out what authorities are calling one of the most disturbing and extensive grave robbing operations that they have ever seen. And what's wild is this case didn't just start with some like big dramatic moment. It actually started very quietly, almost invisibly. So police had been looking into repeated grave burglaries at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which is a massive

historic cemetery just outside of Philadelphia. were being forced open, mausoleums were damaged, and in some cases, it even appeared that human remains were going missing. And at first, it wasn't clear at all who was responsible here. But after more than two dozen break-ins, the investigators decided to step up surveillance to figure out what the hell was really going on here. They wanted to start watching who was coming and going from this cemetery. And that is when everything changed. During that surveillance, police noted a vehicle that had been parked nearby. And when they went to go take a closer look, they saw something in the back seat that immediately made it clear that this wasn't just vandalism or someone, you know, being in the

cemetery after hours. There were human remains inside this car. According to prosecutors, that single moment tied the entire string of grave burglaries to one single person, 34-year-old Jonathan. So on January 6th, 2026, police stopped Jonathan as he was walking. back toward that same vehicle. This time he was carrying a crowbar and this burlap bag. And inside that bag, authorities say that there were mummified remains of two small children, along with multiple skulls and other bones. So once he was taken into custody, the investigators then executed search warrants on his home and also a nearby storage unit that was in his name. And what they found there is what law enforcement has described as one of the most disturbing

scenes they have ever encountered. In Jonathan's basement and his storage unit, authorities say that they uncovered more than 100 sets of human remains. I'm talking skulls, long bones, mummified, hands and feet, decomposing torsos, some still even wearing jewelry on their body. And in at least one case, a pacemaker was still embedded inside the body. John Paul with 680B.C, Can you tell us a little bit more about when you found these skeletons in the house? Where were they? What condition were they in? What was he doing with them? So, John, a lot remains to be determined at this point. They were in the basement predominantly, although, as you can imagine, with 100 remains, it was not as though they were in an isolated area.

We don't know exactly what he was doing with them. Time will tell. They were in various states. Understand, some of these are 200 years old. The district attorney later said that walking into that home felt like stepping into a horror movie, except this was obviously real life. It reminds me of that movie, too, House of a Thousand Corpses. I think it's a Rob Zombie movie. It's also who does, what's the other one? I know you guys are screaming it. I'm going to need to Google it after this, but they are like two of my favorite movies. As like Rob Zombie, his wife and like the parents, it's so creepy and gross. But like, yeah, this is real life. So at this point, investigators realized they weren't dealing with just

some one-off crime. They were dealing with something very systematic, something planned, ongoing. Police believe that many of these remains came from the Mount Moriah Cemetery, which also dates back all of the way to 1855, and this cemetery contains more than 150,000 burials. The cemetery has struggled with neglect and security issues for years, which makes it, of course, very vulnerable, and this is something that investigators believe Jonathan really took advantage of. So you would think that, okay, this is disturbing enough, right? What a freak. Why on earth was he doing this? Like, is he some just, like, weird purve, some weird, like, skeleton obsessor? What's going on? But as they kept digging into this, things then got even darker. Because court documents

suggest that Jonathan may not have been keeping all of these remains for himself. Investigators actually uncovered digital evidence that indicated that some of these bones may have been sold or traded online. Because as we know, there is a huge market for weird-ass shit on the internet. And not only people trading, you know, organs or this or that, but people who want to buy actual human remains or trade them. And people online have since pointed to different posts in like oddity collector groups and images allegedly shared on social media that are images is believed to show human remains taken from disturbed graves. And like I said, prosecutors have confirmed that some of the remains that were recovered are believed to belong to children,

which kind of adds this whole other sick and twisted layer, right? Even if there is a market for people who want to buy human remains because they, you know, are fascinated or they're just freaks of nature, they want children's remains? That is so sick and twisted. Jonathan has admitted to breaking into dozens of graves, but authorities say that the sheer volume of remains that were found points to one of the most extensive grave robbing cases that they have ever seen. So he is now facing hundreds of criminal charges, including more than 100 counts related to abuse of a corpse, along with theft, burglary, desecration, and even more. He's being held on a $1 million bail, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Tanner Rouse. I'm the District Attorney of Delaware County, and we are here today because of the arrest of 34-year-old Jonathan Gerlock of Efford of Pennsylvania.

Over the course of the last several weeks, detectives from Yaden Borough, as well as Delaware County, CID, became aware that from November at 2025 up until two days ago, January of 2026, Numerai Cemetery had been burglarized by at that point an unknown individual. 26 separate mausoleums and our underground burial sites had been torn into, and, for lack a better word, desecrated. Investigation took place. Gaden deserves a hell of a lot of credit on this for doing good old-fashioned police work, going through LPRs, tracking physical evidence, piecing together a suspect.

Cooperating with CID, we developed that suspect. We laid in wait, and we eventually watched and caught Mr. Gerlock as he desecrated yet another monument as recently as two days ago. He was taken into custody. Search for us were executed in his home and effort where over 100 human skeletons were recovered. And that's in part. At this point, we are still trying to figure out how many of those are complete and what exactly we are looking at. A separate storage locker was found to be in Mr. Gerlock's possession. that also was in Ephra.

We found there eight more human remains. Very simply, detectives have recovered an awful lot of bones at this point, and we are still trying to piece together who they are, where they are from, and how many we are looking at, and it's going to be quite some time before we have a final answer. He is now arrested. Bail has been set at a million dollars cash by Judge Williams. He is eight on 26 counts of burglary.

criminal trespass and a host of other offenses. Kelly Wilson, who's handling our media affairs. He's going to pass out of complaints and you guys have the complete list of charges at your disposal. Very simply, detectives walked into a horror movie come to life the other night, guys. This is an unbelievable scene

that no one involved from myself to the detectives, to the medical examiners that are now trying to piece together what they are looking at, quite literally. None of them have ever seen anything like this before. But what makes this case so, beyond unsettling isn't just the number of charges or how graphic the details are, but it's the questions that it raises. Because how many families would go and visit their loved

ones without knowing that these graves have already been violated and that their loved one wasn't even in there anymore? How long had this been happening before anybody noticed? And why would somebody collect and possibly sell human remains in the first place? I know there's a market for everything, as I said, but like, come on. So we're still uncovering a lot of new details as this case develops. And there is so much going on here that has not been reported so far. So let me know if you want the deep dive because I will do the legwork and get the answers. I have a couple questions. Oh, great. Hit me.

Okay, number one, when you say there's a market, which I'm obviously not surprised, there's a market for everything for bones and things like that. Is that a black market or can you legally buy bones? Obviously not that we're dug up illegally, but like if you had possession of bones, are you able to sell them? Maybe for like a paleontologist, I don't know. For educational purposes or research or whatever. Probably.

People are fascinated with taxidermy. Like, could you? It was my first question. Secondly, if someone passes away in your family or whatever and you are the person who decides what happens with, are you allowed to keep a body? Like, could you preserve the bones yourself? I'm just thinking. You probably could, but like. Not that you'd ever want to.

I'm just curious. There's a market. So I'm just thinking. I'm taking you off my estate planning right now. I'm just thinking this guy is selling bones. Obviously, he's got some fetish thing probably going. Well, yeah, it's the money. I'm sure. He's probably making money selling it. Yeah. But if there's this market, where do people

normally get these bones? My question. Probably like the black market is my guess. All illegally sourced or do people sometimes not bury or cremate someone and they just have possession bone? I hope nobody listening has the answer, okay? Because I don't like any of that. It's curious because, I mean, you donate things to science and I don't know. Okay. The DMV, you put the donor sticker of like, I'll donate my organs. And I know that there's been rumors forever that like if you have that sticker, they won't save your life. Yeah, which is I don't, no, no, no, I don't, either. But like, there's no sticker saying, take my bones and sell them on the black market. But there is the executor at your stage. I want my, I want to be cremated.

No bones for you. Yeah. No. But there is a weird market for stuff like this. I did a case, I covered a case, maybe six months ago, and I don't know if you remember this, where there is a market where people were not circumcising. What's the word I'm looking for? What's the word where you? Yes, thank you. I was having, where they can't, like self-castration. Self-castration? Yes. And also where you would hire somebody to come and castor you. Like weird fetishes and weird groups on the internet. Yeah. Or you keep it as a trophy. You sell it legally? I don't know.

I don't want to talk about this anymore. Okay? Like, I'm tapping out the Celsius isn't hitting enough for this conversation right now. Um, gosh. Okay. So that's what we've got for headline highlights today. What a heavy one. But like I said, don't forget, subscribe, follow if you haven't already because the deep dive

into the Tepe family is coming. And I want to make sure you don't miss that because so many of you guys have been messaging me about it. And look, if you want the deep dive into the House of 100 corpses, I'll call it, I will do it for you because I love you. But I really hope you guys don't request it secretly. So that's what we've got for today. What else? I was going to say, oh, on Tuesday we put out the episode of Aaron Caffey. If you're not familiar with that episode or that case, she is a teen who orchestrated her entire family's murder. It's pretty unbelievable. So that's on the 10 to Life feed. It's all housed on the same YouTube channel, but for my podcast

listeners, just a friendly reminder. We have two podcasts, serilessly, and 10 to Life. So go check out that new episodes every Tuesday. And then, yeah, I'll be back with you guys Monday with an all new case. Or I think maybe actually tomorrow with a bonus episode. If you are, if you listen on Apple, if you sign up for Annie Elise Plus, you get access to about 100 bonus episodes right now, bonus cases and we do a new one every other Friday. So they're exclusive on Apple and on Patreon. So you can do that either on Apple Podcast app or Patreon.com slash Annie Elis. Anything else?

I think that you covered it. That was a mouthful. Okay. Until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Don't sell any bones. Don't rob any graves. And if you see something, say something.

That's a great one. And just don't be a freak. Should that be a new motto? Like, don't be a freak. That's it. Okay. Bye.