The Long Dance Podcast

The Long Dance Podcast

On February 12, 1971, in Durham, North Carolina, a 20 year-old nursing student and her 19 year-old boyfriend left a Valentine's Dance to park down a secluded lover's lane. They never returned. Two weeks later, their bodies were found deep within the Carolina pines. They had been strangled, tortured, and murdered. Their murders have never been solved. THE LONG DANCE is the story of the lives touched by the murders of Patricia Mann and Jesse McBane. Produced by crime fiction author Eryk Pruitt, investigative reporter Drew Adamek, and sound engineer Piper Kessler, it uses recorded interviews to tell the tragic tale of North Carolina's most baffling murder case. The eight-part true crime podcast is perfect for fans of SERIAL and S-TOWN.

Episodes

June 30, 2018 63 mins

Listeners are introduced to Patricia Mann and Jesse McBane through interviews with family, friends, and colleagues. We learn about their lives and the horrors they faced when the couple went missing, then their bodies are found. "Pat and Jesse" serves as an introductory overview of the case

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The case is reopened forty years later by Captain Tim Horne of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. As he reassembles the case file, he guides the listeners through the early phases of the 1971 investigation, which was led by Sgt. Tim Bowers of the Durham Police Department, and begins to compile a list of suspects.   Download Episode  

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When Pat and Jesse's bodies were discovered just over the Orange County line, this began a long chain of events which challenged accountability, responsibility, and the tangle of jurisdiction. Six different law enforcement agencies were tasked with finding the killer, and this created more problems than solutions, possibly allowing a killer to go free.

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Over the course of the forty-six-year investigation, many suspects were developed and ruled out. Three have never been eliminated. In Episode Four, Drew and Eryk discuss the first of those three, James Brannon Ray. Using interviews with original investigators, witnesses, and family members, the case against Ray is laid out for the listener.

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The second of three suspects is presented. A doctor and textbook author at Duke lived a tormented and complicated life, striking terror and fear into all of those who came in contact with him. Could an innocent encounter with the young student nurse be the impetus for North Carolina's most baffling murder mystery?

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June 30, 2018 78 mins
Episode Six reveals the identity of the only living suspect of North Carolina's Valentine's Day Murders. After forty-six years, every investigator expresses frustration that one man may have slipped through their fingers, thanks to his standing in the community, as well as a series of unfortunate factors. Interviews with original and current investigators, prosecutors, and even the suspect himself, highlight this installment of the...
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June 30, 2018 52 mins
The information gleaned from the 1970s investigation is called into question when a scandal involving two of the detectives is unearthed. How will that affect Captain Tim Horne's suspicions? What does this mean for our story?
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June 30, 2018 56 mins
What can be done—after forty-seven years—to solve the murders of Patricia Mann and Jesse McBane. Thanks to new technology, Captain Tim Horne may have one last chance to bring closure to the families and deliver justice to the killer. Will it be enough? Is it too late?
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