There's a headline identifying the person found frozen in a cave below the Pinnacle on the Appalachian Trail. tThat was in 1977. He was known as Pinnacle Man. He remained unidentified until recently. That's how he is in the headlines. The autopsy conducted in January 1977 listed the man's cause of death as an overdose. The death was declared a suicide. No one claimed his body. He was buried in the Berks County Potter's Field - I guess that's for the unclaimed. As part of the process, his fingerprints were taken. But this information as lost.
Why is it that they decided in August 2019 to exhume his body. It was examined by a forensic anthropologist, pathologist and odontologist. The dental exam samples were shipped to the University of North Texas Centre for Human Identification. No identification resulted.
"Earlier this month, a cold case officer found Grubb’s original fingerprint cards and submitted them to the FBI for examination. An agent found a match in less than an hour on August 27, finally identifying him. A relative to Grubb confirmed his identity.
So here's the situation: The immediate family is now deceased. A first cousin was found and is quoted as saying: “All I knew is that he disappeared and spent some time in Colorado,” he said. “I’ve always been kind of intrigued by it.” That doesn't sound like a concerned relative either. More on the family history is in the article HERE
This has no logic to me - to solve cold cases that don't involve a crime or missing person. Shouldn't there be a victim of crime, or family pursuing a disappeared person? Cold case investigations are notably homicides, sexual assaults and burglaries. Articles say that cases never are put aside if there is homicide involved - they may be cold, but not closed.
I'm focused on why the attention to this case and not others, given the costs involved. The cost of the expertise, time and effort involved - exhumation is said to cost in the thousands of dollars - one article said the cost of exhuming her father would total $20,000, including expenses, medical examiner, etc. And that seems a small portion of all the activities that led to the identification. Look how many experts were involved in the forensic examination.
The only rationale I can think of around this cold case is that it would make the news headlines. In pursuit of celebrity status, perhaps.
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