A man found frozen in a cave in Pennsylvania has finally been identified, bringing an end to an almost 50-year-long mystery.

The remains of the missing man have been identified by the Berks County Coroner’s Office as those of Nicholas Paul Grubb, a 27-year-old from Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

Grubb has long been known as the “Pinnacle Man,” a moniker that referenced the Appalachian mountain peak near where two hikers discovered his body on January 16, 1977.

An autopsy at the time determined no signs of foul play, and authorities ruled he had died of a drug overdose, The New York Times reports.

However, they were unable to identify Grubb’s body from his appearance, belongings, clothing or dental information – and fingerprints collected during the examination were later misplaced, leaving investigators with little more than a sketch of his likeness.

Berks County’s Coroner, John Fielding, told reporters that “detectives from the state police and investigators from the coroner’s office” had periodically revisited the case over the past 15 years, comparing his information “to no less than 10 missing persons through fingerprints and dental X-rays”.

In August 2019, Grubb’s body was exhumed after dental records linked him to two missing person cases in Florida and Illinois, and taken to Reading Hospital, where it was examined by a forensic anthropologist, forensic pathologist and forensic odontologist.

While DNA samples didn’t match either of the missing person cases, in August this year Pennsylvania State Police trooper Ian Keck found Grubb’s missing fingerprints.

Within an hour of submitting the card to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), a FBI fingerprint expert matched the print’s to Grubb’s.

A family member went on to confirm his identity, and asked the Berks County Coroner’s Office to bury his remains in a family plot.

“This identification brings a long awaited resolution to his family, who have been notified and expressed their deep appreciation for the collective efforts that made it possible,” Fielding said.

“It is moments like these that remind us of the importance of our work to provide answers, to bring closure and to give the unidentified a name and a story.”