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Berks County Officials Exhume Body Of Unidentified Man Found Frozen In Cave In 1970s

HAMBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Investigators in Berks County, Pennsylvania have exhumed the body of an unidentified man who was found frozen in a cave along the Appalachian Trail about four decades ago. Officials say the man's dental records recently were matched to missing men from Florida and Illinois.

Berks County Coroner Dennis Hess tells WFMZ-TV the only way to conclusively identify the man is to exhume his remains and test his DNA.

"The teeth match. They were close, similar to both but it wasn't conclusive," Hess told WFMZ-TV. "There's only one way to conclusively ID him and that's to dig the body up."

The test results could take about three weeks.

The man's body was found in January 1977 by two hikers in a cave near an area called The Pinnacle, not far from Hamburg.

Authorities at the time said there was no sign of foul play and the man was buried in a potter's field in Berks County.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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