Body identified after 47 years

Almost 50 years after the discovery of a frozen man's body in a mountain cave in the northeast of the USA, forensic scientists have been able to identify the dead man. The man is 27-year-old Nicolas Paul Grubb from Fort Washington in the state of Pennsylvania, the responsible coroner announced. “This identification brings the family the long-awaited clarification,” said chief forensic scientist John Fielding.

Hikers discovered the body in January 1977 in a cave on the famous Appalachian Trail. The dead man was far too lightly dressed for the cold season, police said at the time. An autopsy at the time determined that the man had died of a drug overdose and that no third party had been at fault.

However, he could not be identified. The case became an unsolved cold case. Since the location where the body was found in Berks County near the Pinnacle mountain peak became known, the mystery of the “Pinnacle Man” has been talked about ever since.

In 2019, the last ones were even exhumed because a clue seemed to lead to two missing persons cases. DNA samples were taken at the time – but were unsuccessful. The attempt to reconstruct the man's face as a drawing using modern technology also failed.

The persistence of an investigator ultimately led to success, as the forensic medicine department announced a few days ago. The officer recently found the file containing the man's original fingerprints under piles of old files. These had been thought to be lost for decades.

The police only had copies, which investigators said were not sufficient for a comparison. The prints were entered into the missing persons database – and Grubb was identified in less than an hour. “That was good, old-fashioned police work,” said a spokesman for the coroner's office.

It turned out that the 27-year-old had served in the National Guard for a while. But much remains a mystery, including the exact circumstances of his death.

At the time, investigators believed it was a drug-related suicide. But today's forensic scientists doubt that, as the deputy chief of the medical examiner's office in Berks County told the Washington Post (Wednesday edition). That's why the investigation into the case is continuing.