The body of a man found frozen in a small Pennsylvania cave nearly 50 years ago has finally been identified.
The remains of Nicholas Paul Grubb, 27, of Fort Washington, were discovered in January 1977 by two hikers who had ducked inside the cave to escape some inclement weather. Grubb has long been known as the “Pinnacle Man,” a reference to the Appalachian mountain peak near where his body was found.
An autopsy at the time found no signs of foul play and determined that he died from a drug overdose. Authorities, though, could not identify Grubb’s body from his appearance, belongings, clothing or dental information. Fingerprints were collected during his autopsy but somehow were misplaced, according to the Berks County Coroner’s Office.
Detectives from the state police and investigators with the coroner’s office had periodically revisited the case over the past 15 years and Grubb’s body was exhumed in August 2019 after dental records linked him to two missing person cases in Florida and Illinois.
