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Technology could help solve 1970s Volusia cold case

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — There are renewed efforts to solve a Volusia County cold case that dates back to the 1970s Monday.

For the first time in 15 years investigators are exhuming a body.

That unknown man was found in a pond near Indian Lake Road in Daytona Beach.

Investigators hope new evidence will help find the person who stabbed him to death in 1972.

A meticulous dig in an old Daytona Beach cemetery meant picking and chipping away at the dirt by hand.

"It was more of an archeological dig where they dug the whole grave by hand and investigated every little piece that they did find," said Scott Seegert of Lohman's Funeral Home.

Layer by layer, detectives, medical examiners, a few well-known scholars and students found their John Doe still in his body bag.

They're hoping to identify his body to help solve his cold murder case.

The man originally thought to be in his late teens or early 20s could be even younger.

He was found stabbed to death in a pond in Daytona Beach.

"This is in our case files as a John Doe number one, the very first, well I should say the oldest unidentified man case that we currently have and it's just a matter of all the pieces coming together," said Brandon Haught of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators took everything, including the headstone.

The people who run the cemetery said they haven't seen an exhumation as detailed in decades.

"It surprised me for the amount of people that were here and everybody played their own little role," Seegert said.

Officials said the case file was thin, but the group plans to use DNA, the database for missing and exploited children, and even facial reconstruction.

The work could take a few months but investigators believe it is worth trying to crack the secret behind one young man's murder.

DNA tests will be done on the remains by the University of North Texas.

Researchers at the University of Florida will scan of the victim's skull.

The results will be submitted to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, which will create a facial reconstruction.