Penn. Man Nicknamed 'Pinnacle Man' Identified 47 Years After He Was Found Frozen in Cave

The John Doe has been identified as Nicolas Paul Grubb, who earned the nickname "Pinnacle Man" from where his body was found along the Appalachian Trail

After nearly five decades, authorities have identified the remains of a man who was found frozen inside a cave along the Appalachian Trail.

The John Doe, nicknamed “The Pinnacle Man,” has been identified as Nicolas Paul Grubb of Fort Washington, Penn., the Berks County Coroner’s Office said in a news release obtained by PEOPLE. He was 27 years old when he died.

The identification comes 47 years after Grubb was found dead inside the Pennsylvania cave. Hikers found his body in Albany Township on Jan. 16, 1977, officials said.

The cave where Grubb’s body was found is located near a 1,000-foot peak within the Blue Ridge Mountains in Albany Township known as “the Pinnacle,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer — earning him the special nickname.

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“This case highlights the difficulty in working cold cases, as well as the considerable effort taken to return unidentified and unclaimed persons back to their loved ones,” the coroner’s office said in its release.

At least 10 people were compared to Grubb in the last 15 years, officials noted. In 2019, his body was exhumed from Potter's Field in Berks County to be assessed, but years later, experts said they were still unable to find a match. "Both the initial DNA extraction in 2019 and the subsequent genealogical DNA analysis in 2023 failed," authorities said.

"A last attempt was considered to perform a facial approximation, but unfortunately the facial bones were broken or missing pieces during the exhumation process," their coroner’s office added. "The Coroner’s Office was considering reinterring the remains when the latest discovery was made."

Additionally, copies of Grubb's fingerprint cards were too poor in quality to be properly used for identification, complicating the process for years, NBC affiliate WCAU reported.

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In August, there was a break in the case. A Pennsylvania State Police detective found Grubb's original fingerprint cards, which were subsequently turned over to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), officials said.

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The results came back in less than an hour. Grubb was a match.

Authorities said Grubb, known as "Nicky" by his family, served with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and received an honorable discharge in 1971.

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His cause of death was determined at the time to be an overdose of phenobarbital and pentobarbital. Investigators determined his manner of death as suicide, though the coroner's office said "police and death investigations are still active until a final determination can be made."

Family members are now working with authorities to have Grubb’s remains reburied in a family burial plot, according to local outlet PennLive.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

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