A 45-year-old Dothan man is believed to have lived his life crime-free over the past nearly 20 years, maintaining a family and a low profile but all the while harboring a deadly secret, authorities say.

Coley McCraney, never before on the radar of investigators in the brutal 1999 murders of slain high school seniors Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley, now sits behind bars in the Dale County Jail, charged with one count of rape and five counts of capital murder. He was booked on the charges about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, jail records show, after authorities say a DNA match was found through a family DNA website in a geneology search.

Ozark police and Dale County sheriff’s officials have scheduled a Monday morning press conference on the case. Court records show McCraney, originally from Ozark, has no previous criminal record.

The murders of the girls’ haunted the Wiregrass region for decades and been given national exposure on television networks throughout the years. The friends, both 17, were on their way home from Beasley’s birthday party when they got lost in Ozark on July 31, 1999.

According to Hawlett’s mother, Carole Roberts, the girls had been lost and could not understand the directions they were given before stopping at a convenience store in Ozark. They had been on their way home from a party in Headland.

The girls were found the next day inside the trunk of Beasley’s black Mazda 929, on the side of Herring Avenue about one block away from the Dale County hospital. Both girls had each been shot once to the head, but there were no other signs of foul play. The girls’ jewelry, purses and money were not missing and state forensics experts at the time said neither girl had been raped.

Within a week, police announced a nationwide, 24-hour hotline to received tips and a reward fund quickly grew to $15,000 in donations from area residents. Then-Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman announce another $10,000 in state funds.

In the years immediately after the killing, investigators conducted more than 500 interviews, overworked forensics experts and tested the DNA of more than 70 potential suspects, according to past published reports.

Police arrested Johnny William Barrentine, who they said implicated himself by putting himself at the crime scene during an interview with authorities. Barrentine later said he told police his fake stories to get the reward money that was promised at the time.

He was later cleared when semen found on Beasley’s clothing and skin did not match his DNA.

McCraney is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday. The law enforcement press conference is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. in Ozark City Council chambers.