Authorities investigating a 42-year-old cold-case murder of a young North Carolina couple say they've honed in on a "person of interest."
Nineteen-year-old Jesse McBane and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Patricia Mann, were found tied up, strangled and beaten in Orange County on Feb. 25, 1971, less than two weeks after the couple left a Valentine's dance. (Via Fox News)
"They were bound individually and then ultimately together around a tree."
"Before ending up in the forest, the couple had left the dance early and headed to this area off of Metwood Road. At the time, it was undeveloped, secluded, sort of lovers' lane." (Via WRAL)
The murders were dubbed the Valentine's Day killings because investigators believe the couple, who reportedly planned to get married, were abducted and then killed just hours after the dance.
Authorities once suspected a Georgia man as a suspect in the couples' death. He was accused of killing nine people in Georgia and both Carolinas, but authorities said he was in Georgia when McBane and Mann were murdered. Other rumors that developed over the years pointed to a doctor at the hospital where Mann studied. (Via Daily Mail)
This "person of interest" hasn't been identified, and further details haven't been released, but it's still a big break in a decades-old case, as authorities say the suspect is alive.
