A mystery that spanned nearly five decades has finally been solved, with the identification of a man found frozen in a Pennsylvania cave in 1977, CNN reports.
The Berks County Coroner’s Office has confirmed that the remains, known as the “Pinnacle Man,” belong to Nicholas Paul Grubb, a 27-year-old from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
Surprisingly, advanced technology played no role in the breakthrough. Instead, a Pennsylvania State Police detective, Ian Keck, uncovered the missing link to the cold case through old-fashioned detective work – digging through files.
On January 16, 1977, hikers discovered Grubb’s frozen body in a cave below the Pinnacle, a peak in the Appalachian Mountains near Albany Township.
The cause of death was determined to be a drug-induced overdose, with no signs of foul play. Dental records and fingerprints were collected during the autopsy, but the fingerprints were misplaced.
The case remained unsolved for over four decades until 2019 when authorities revisited it, exhuming Grubb’s body and taking DNA samples for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). However, the samples did not match any missing person cases.
The breakthrough came in early August when Keck found the lost fingerprint card from Grubb’s 1977 autopsy. He submitted the card to NamUs on August 12, and within an hour, an FBI fingerprint expert matched it to Grubb’s records.
Grubb’s family was notified by the Berks County Coroner’s Office, confirming his identity. The family requested that his remains be placed in the family plot.
“This identification brings a long awaited resolution to his family, who have been notified and expressed their deep appreciation for the collective efforts that made it possible,” said Berks County Coroner John Fielding. “It is moments like these that remind us of the importance of our work to provide answers, to bring closure and to give the unidentified a name and a story.”
