Nearly five decades after two hikers discovered a frozen body in a Pennsylvania cave, the man known only as “Pinnacle Man” has finally been identified.
Berks County Coroner’s Office confirmed the identity of Nicholas Paul Grubb, a 27-year-old from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
His remains were first discovered in January 1977 near the Pinnacle, a popular peak along the Appalachian Trail with an elevation of 1,629 feet.
The discovery brings closure to a statewide mystery that has persisted for nearly half a century.
“Over the last 15 years, detectives from the state police and investigators from the coroner’s office compared Nicolas’s information to no less than 10 missing persons through fingerprints and dental X-rays,” said John Fielding, Berks county’s coroner, in a statement.
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“Pinnacle Man” became a local legend, and his identity remained unknown despite periodic investigations by the state police and the county coroner.
Grubb’s body was initially found by two hikers who sought refuge in a small cave during a bout of inclement weather.
At the time, an autopsy determined that Grubb had died from a drug overdose with no signs of foul play.
There were signs he hadn’t been prepared for the harsh weather conditions of the trail because of his choice of light clothing and lack of camping supplies.
Forensic detectives also found evidence he had tried to start a fire to keep himself going.
However, authorities were unable to identify him due to the condition of his body, his belongings and even his dental records.
A set of fingerprints was taken during the autopsy, but they were mysteriously misplaced, stalling any further identification efforts.
Investigators periodically revisited the case, exhuming his body in 2019, but DNA tests did not match missing persons from Florida and Illinois.
For years, the case lingered in the background as one of Pennsylvania’s most enduring mysteries.
The breakthrough came earlier this year when Ian Keck, a Pennsylvania state trooper, made a remarkable discovery: The long-lost fingerprints taken from Grubb’s body during the initial autopsy.
Within an hour of submitting these prints to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, an FBI fingerprint expert identified them as belonging to Grubb.
This match finally solved the decades-old mystery, confirming Grubb’s identity.
Grubb’s family, who had long wondered about his fate, were notified of the discovery.
They requested that his remains be placed in a family plot, bringing a sense of closure to a case that had haunted the region for nearly 50 years.
“It took some digging, looking in our archives. Luckily, going through the archives, along with photos, there happened to be a fingerprint card,” Keck said at the coroner’s press conference.
“It’s bittersweet,” he continued. “The family has been looking for their loved one for over 40 years, not knowing whatever happened to them. For me to have this tiny part in it, I’m glad I was able to help out.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.