THIS TRAGIC VALENTINE'S DAY STORY WILL TRAUMATIZE YOU

This couple headed out on a Friday night to attend a Valentine's dance, little did they know it would be the last time anyone saw them alive. The circumstances of their tragic demise were so bizarre that, even after 50 years, investigators remain perplexed. 

Patricia Mann had known Jesse McBane since high school. Jesse was a popular guy. He was smart, athletic, he had a lot of friends, and most importantly, he was incredibly handsome. So she fell in love and they started dating. And it turned out, they made a great match. They always met on the weekends while they spent their weekdays sending text messages to each other. She also often received romantic surprises and gifts from Jesse, and she had always been happy for it. So their love life felt like the dream love life that everyone would wish for. Satisfied with their relationship so far, they decided to continue dating in university after graduating high school. Jesse got into North Carolina State University, while Patricia went to study nursing at Watts Hospital Training School. Even though they went to different schools and didn't have a lot of chances to meet each other, they were still in love and even became more romantic than ever before. But this didn’t last long.

Friday, February 12 1971, Patricia was just attending an exam at school when, out of nowhere, Jesse came to surprise her. She was so happy that her boyfriend came from far away just to see her. And coincidentally, there was a Valentine’s dance party at Patricia’s school. So, the two went out that night to attend the party. Now, they were having fun, dancing around and partying with other couples. It was a night they would never forget. Until at around 11 PM, they left the party to go to a place called Croasdaile, which was also known as “The Lovers’ Lane” by Durham students because it was a place where couples partake in their romantic activities. Basically, this place was full of dead ends and if you come across a dead end with a car there, then that place is taken by someone so you have to find another one. So, the two went to this place and got busy there. 

Until at 1 AM, some of the dorm staff started patrolling the area to make sure all the students had already gone back to their dorm. And it turned out that they all did, except for Patricia. It was strange because Patricia was known to be disciplined and she always made it back on time. So they waited 1 day until February 13, and when they still hadn’t heard from her, they became worried. Patricia’s friends started contacting nearby hospitals just in case she got into an accident, and they even contacted the police. Until one of Patricia’s workmates at the Watts Hospital had an idea that she might have gone to Croasdale. So they went to Croasdale and found Jesse’s car, a Ford Cortina, parked at one of the dead ends. However, when they checked, Jesse and Patricia weren’t there. They could only find their jackets placed at the passenger seats. The car itself is in a fine condition. It wasn’t broken nor dirty, and there was no sign of violence. So they just assumed that they were just walking around somewhere in the area. They then searched the woods nearby the area and by no surprise, they didn’t find them. So at this point the police got involved in the investigation and they had declared Jesse and Patricia missing. They then spread the news all across the city and asked every single person at the dance party if they had seen them, but ultimately there was zero clue. Where were Jesse and Patricia?

It was at this point that the police had suggested the idea that Jesse and Patricia might have eloped. But it was immediately declined by everyone close to these two individuals, saying that they would never do such a thing. So they kept searching and searching, but it was all dead end. Until, around two weeks later, on February 25, a land surveyor, Robert Kirby, who was just doing his job, found something very strange in the forest near Croasdale. In a big pile of leaves, he saw a foot sticking out of it. At first he thought it was a mannequin foot, but once he got closer and had a clearer look, he realized that it surely wasn’t. It was the foot of one of the two humans who were tied onto a tree. These humans were not alive. As shocked as he was, Robert ran to a nearby trailer park and asked them to contact the local police. Soon the police arrived and they were also in shock after finding out that these two bodies are the remains of Jesse McBane and Patricia Mann, two students who had been missing for 12 days. 

These bodies were tied with a thick rope onto an oak tree with a 10 inch diameter. Their backs were facing the trunk. Not only that, their necks and wrists were also tied with the same rope. There were many scratches on the ground near where they’re tied. There was also a decent amount of mud on their clothes. There were no sign of sexual abuse nor robbery. In fact, Jesse’s expensive watch and ring were still clean and intact onto his wrist and ring finger. However, what puzzled the police the most was that on Jesse’s car, they didn’t find a single fingerprint. Maybe the reason why the car was clean was because the culprit made sure to leave no trace. And another baffling thing was that on the day Jesse and Patricia went missing, Watts Hospital received a call from someone claiming to be Jesse’s father. This caller basically asked if Jesse was being treated at the hospital. However, it was soon concluded that it was definitely not Jesse’s father. So then, if this caller was supposedly the culprit behind everything, then why would he ask Watts Hospital if they were treating Jesse, when he was literally the one that killed him?

An autopsy soon revealed the cause of Jesse and Patricia’s death. It turned out that they might have been killed due to strangling from the rope that was tied on their neck. The rope was supposedly loosened and fastened at a certain rate so that they would feel unbearable pain. There were also some stab wounds on their chests, but it wasn’t from a knife. Instead, it was from a screwdriver or an ice breaker. But according to the doctors, the killer didn’t use this sharp object to kill them, but instead to check if they were already dead. They also found a 1.2 centimeter tear on Patricia’s heart. It was likely that the killer tortured her by punching, kicking, or stomping on her. From this autopsy result, the police then categorized this case as a murder. 

But, even though the case was really bad, the police didn’t handle it quite well. You see, the bodies were found at the border between Durham and Orange County so they just didn’t know who should take the case. Because of that, the place wasn’t strictly guarded and the public started swarming around the area. So then investigations were launched involving the Orange County Sheriff Office, Durham Sheriff Office, Durham Police, the SBI, and even the FBI. However, all these people didn’t seem to be working together. They were just doing their own research individually, so it was just all a mess. So each of them came up with their own suspect.

The first suspect is the owner of the trailer park that Robert went to after he found the bodies. He was a grave digger who was diagnosed with mental health issues. As the police did an investigation on him, they found out that not long before Jesse and Patricia went missing, this man bought some ropes that looked identical to the one used to tie them onto the tree. And what’s even more suspicious about him is that he quit his job just one day after the disappearance. Another suspect is the man by the name of James Brandon Ray. He was a staff at Watts Hospital who had known Patricia. During the investigation, he always refused to give any information, let alone complying to work together with the police. He even refused to give his DNA sample. They also found out that he had extensive knowledge on Croasdeale, and he also stole a rope a week before Valentine’s day. These two were the strongest suspects on the case, but it got people wondering which one was really the killer.

So they hired a criminal psychologist to do a criminal profiling on the case. The psychologist suggested that the culprit was an athletic man, aged 25 to 40. It was also mentioned that the culprit was a paranoid man, a loner, a pretty good worker, had no criminal record, and had a normal appearance. This profiling gave some progress to the case, but the police still didn’t declare any perpetrator. Soon years later, there was an effort to shed some light on the case. This time a more advanced technology that could extract DNA from unreachable spots. They used this on the rope that was used to tie Jesse and Patricia. But, it was all in vain, because they still haven’t found who the killer was.

50 years later, the case remains unresolved, marked by ongoing debates and investigations. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress. The mystery surrounding Jesse McBane and Patricia Mann’s tragic valentine endures, leaving us in the dark about what truly transpired and who was responsible.