(Image source from: ocregister.com)

Almost 50 years ago, a young couple was found dead, tied to a tree, in the woods near the Durham-Orange County line. The deaths of Jesse McBane, 19, and his girlfriend of three years, Patricia Mann, 20, made national headlines after they disappeared after a Valentine’s dance at Watts Hospital in Durham, on the night of Feb. 12, 1971.

This week, the Orange County Sheriff's Office is hoping results from a new test will offer new evidence to help close this cold case.

"It's just one of those cases that you can't let go," said Major Tim Horne. He's been working the case for seven of its 47 years, but he is feeling more encouraged now than ever.

Horne has held up his retirement in hopes of closure for McBane and Mann.

"I'm actually eligible to retire today," he said. "I could if I wanted to. I pushed that back just to work on this case a little further."

Horne and others are using an M-VAC System, one of about 100 in the world, to search the rope that tied the couple for tiny DNA samples that could lead to a killer.

"It resembles or reminds me of an industrial-type carpet cleaner," Horne said. "This solution then kind of teases the DNA molecules to the surface where it can be vacuumed up."

Horne said, although there has never been an arrest in the case, there is a prime suspect, and that person is still alive. If the DNA from the rope matches that suspect, it would be enough for an arrest.

"At the end of the day, we're just going to follow the evidence, and where ever it leads us is fine," he said.

Investigators believe someone abducted the young couple, forced them into the trunk of a vehicle, then strangled them over a period of time.

By Lokesh