It's been more than 43 years since an Army veteran was shot to death in a Gastonia convenience store and police still don't know who killed Leonard Melvin Lucas.

A customer at the Li'l General Store on Carolina Avenue reportedly found the man behind the counter around 9:30 p.m. on April 27, 1973. The cash register was open, bills were gone and loose change was scattered around Lucas' body, according to a 1973 article in The Gastonia Gazette.

Lucas was taken to Charlotte Memorial Hospital, where he died the next day. His killing is still unsolved, and remains the Gastonia Police Department's coldest homicide case, according to the agency's website.

The Gaston Gazette is seeking to speak with friends and family and anyone else who knew Lucas as part of an upcoming series on unsolved homicides in the city.

Anyone with more information is encouraged to contact reporter Adam Lawson at 704-869-1842 or alawson@gastongazette.com.