"Pinnacle Man" Found Frozen In Appalachian Cave Identified 47 Years After His Death

A man found frozen in a cave in Pennsylvania, USA, has been identified by authorities, 47 years after his death.

On a bitterly cold day on the Appalachian trail in January, 1977, two hikers stumbled across the frozen body of a man in a cave, just below a hiking area known as the "Pinnacle". Despite attempts to identify him using fingerprints and dental records, his identity remained a mystery for decades, and he became referred to as the "Pinnacle man", referring to where he was found.

More recent attempts have been made to identify the body, including exhumation in order to extract DNA five years ago , and to gain a facial reconstruction, but no matches were found and the skull was found to be too damaged to create a bust or sketch reconstruction. Then, in August, a Pennsylvania police detective managed to track down fingerprints taken from the man when his body was first found, but thought to be lost in the intervening years. Submitting the fingerprints to NamUs, a missing person database, the FBI found a match in less than an hour.

"There is no greater closure then to give a name to those who can not tell their own story and to make sure they find their way back home to their loved ones," Berks County Coroner’s Office wrote on Facebook . "After 47 years John Doe 'Pinnacle Man' has been identified as Nicolas Paul Grubb, 27 yrs old of Fort Washington, Montgomery County."

Grubb, 27 at time of his death, served with Company C, 1/111th Infantry of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, before receiving an honorable discharge in 1971. Initial post-mortem put the cause of death as an overdose of phenobarbital and pentobarbital, but the exact circumstances around his death remain a mystery. According to the police, he was found in light clothing despite the snow on the ground and cold conditions, and appeared to have attempted to start a fire within the cave.

“The rest of it is still a question mark for us,” George Holmes, chief deputy of the coroner’s office, said .

Grubb's family have been informed, with the coroner's office adding that they had been "very appreciative" of the continued investigation into his death.