The body of a man found frozen in a small Pennsylvania cave nearly 50 years ago has finally been identified.
The remains of Nicolas 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 鈥淧innacle Man,鈥 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 Office.
Detectives from the state police and investigators with the coroner鈥檚 office had periodically revisited the case over the past 15 years and Grubb鈥檚 body was exhumed in August 2019 after dental records linked him to two missing person cases in Florida and Illinois.
DNA samples did not match in either case, but a break came last month in when a Pennsylvania state trooper found Grubb鈥檚 missing fingerprints. Within an hour of submitting the card to the 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a FBI fingerprint expert matched them to Grubb.
A relative of Grubb was notified of the discovery and family members asked the coroner鈥檚 office to place his remains in a family plot.
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of Nicolas Paul Grubb's first name.
