U.S. officials have identified the ‘Pinnacle Man’ nearly five decades after his frozen body was discovered in a cave
In 1977, two hikers discovered a frozen body near The Pinnacle along the Appalachian Trail in Albany, Berkshire County. The individual remained unidentified for decades—until last week.
Nearly five decades after his frozen body was discovered in a cave, officials have identified the ‘Pinnacle Man.’ He has been named as 27-year-old Nicolas Grubb from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, according to the Berks County Coroner’s Office.
On January 16, 1977, two young hikers found a man’s body just below The Pinnacle, off the Appalachian Trail in Albany, Pennsylvania.
During one of the town’s coldest months on record, the body was reportedly found frozen solid, according to newspaper reports from the time. Despite early efforts, the body was never claimed.
Now, 47 years later, the individual discovered in the cave has finally been identified. However, it took authorities decades to arrive at this conclusion.
Mr. Grubb’s family is now reportedly working to re-bury him in their family plot.
“For 47 years, this man remained unidentified, a nameless figure in a long-forgotten case,” Berks County Coroner John Fielding III stated during a news conference last week, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.
He continued, “But today, I’m honored to announce that through the unwavering efforts of federal, state, and local agencies, the Berks County Coroner’s Office has confirmed the identity of this individual. His name is Nicolas Paul Grubb, a 27-year-old man from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.”
When authorities discovered the body at the scenic overlook, they began investigating how it ended up there. However, many questions remained unanswered, and Mr. Grubb spent nearly half a century as a John Doe.
At the time of his death, Mr. Grubb was described as being between 25 and 35 years old, with blue eyes, long reddish curly hair, standing between 5’10” and 5’11” (1.78m-1.80m), and weighing 155 lbs (70 kg).
A 1977 autopsy determined that he had taken his own life. Afterward, the case went cold, with no significant leads for 47 years until this summer.
One major challenge was that while the ‘Pinnacle Man’s’ fingerprints were taken, the original set was lost, and the copies were too poor for identification. Efforts to exhume and conduct a dental analysis in 2019 also failed to provide answers.
It seemed unlikely that the body would ever be identified until August when a Pennsylvania state trooper discovered the original fingerprints. From that point, it took an FBI expert less than an hour to match the prints to Mr. Grubb, who had reportedly served in his state’s National Guard.
His family was contacted and confirmed his identity.
