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Remains found in cave near Pennsylvania hiking trail nearly 50 years ago identified

Published  August 27, 2024 1:02pm EDT
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia
article

Nicolas Grubb was found dead by two hikers in a cave near the Appalachian Trail in 1977.

The Brief

    • The body of Nicolas Paul Grubb, 27, was found in a cave by hikers on a Berks County hiking trail in January 1977.
    • It was determined Grubb overdosed on phenobarbital and pentobarbital.
    • Investigators were recently able to identify the remains by locating the original fingerprint card and submitting it into a national database for missing, unidentified and unclaimed remains.
    • Grubb, a Fort Washington resident, served in the Pennsylvania National Guard until 1971.

PHILADELPHIA - Investigators in Pennsylvania have identified human remains found in a cave by hikers on the Appalachian Trail nearly 50 years ago. 

Nicolas Paul Grubb was 27-years-old when officials say he overdosed on phenobarbital and pentobarbital in 1977. Investigators believe Grubb took his own life, but authorities have yet to make a final determination on the cause of death.

Grubb's body was found in a cave by two hikers near The Pinnacle on the Appalachian Trail in January 1977, and it had gone unidentified until now. 

Over the last 15 years, investigators say at least 10 people were compared to Grubb using fingerprints and dental x-rays. His remains were exhumed from Potter's Field in Berks County in 2019 and a genealogical analysis four years later failed to uncover his identity, according to county coroners. 

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Before the recent breakthrough, investigators tried to perform a facial approximation, but found the facial bones to be broken or missing pieces during the exhumation process. Once investigators submitted the original fingerprint card to the national database for missing, unidentified and unclaimed remains, they say an FBI expert determined a match within an hour.

"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. "The positive identification of [Grubb] culminates the effort to identify him and locate his family."

Nicolas "Nicky" Grubb, a Fort Washington, Pennsylvania resident, served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard with Company C 1/111th Infantry before he was honorably discharged in 1971, according to officials.