A U.S. Army veteran who vanished in 1976 was identified as a man found murdered that year in North Carolina, according to police.

Forensic DNA testing has revealed the man as Jimmy Mack Brooks, a veteran who was 26 at the time of his murder nearly 50 years ago, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in Pittsboro said in a May 25 news release. Brooks’ body was found in Moncure.

“It is bittersweet to be able to share this information with his loved ones who never stopped looking for him,” Lt. Sara Pack said in a statement.

In 1976, a homicide investigation into the murder victim, now confirmed as Brooks, was put on pause for decades due to “a lack of basic information or viable clues,” the news release said.

His body, which was missing a head and hands, was found in the Cape Fear River in Moncure, according to a news release from Othram Inc., an organization that worked with the sheriff’s office and the North Carolina Unidentified Project to identify Brooks.

Brooks was previously stationed at…