USA: Cold case solved after 50 years

Coincidence reveals secret of the “Pinnacle Man”

Mystery of frozen corpse solved after 50 years

3 September 2024 Uh 15:57 Clock

The crucial clue is verbalized

On January 16, 1977, hikers discovered a frozen body in a remote cave in the Appalachian Mountains. The identity of the man, nicknamed “Pinnacle Man” in reference to the place where he was found near a peak, initially remained a mystery. Although the autopsy determined that the cause of death was a drug overdose, the dead man could not be identified. Tooth and fingerprints are also collected, but the fingerprints are “misplaced”said investigator George Holmes in a CNN report.

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Official finds forgotten clue

More than 42 years later, the fall of 2019 picks up again. After an unsuccessful search in connection with missing persons from Florida and Illinois, a lucky coincidence leads to the solution of the case in early August of this year. According to CNN, an officer from the Pennsylvania State Police pored over old files, discovered the lost fingerprints and submitted them to the national missing persons database.

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Within an hour, the FBI can confirm the identity: Nicholas Paul Grubb, a 27-year-old from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, who was honorably discharged from the Army in 1971.

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