Investigators are using DNA evidence to reexamine the Atlanta Child Murders, the city’s mayor said.
At a news conference Friday, Mayor Keisha Bottoms expressed her hope that the technology would help provide answers in the cases.
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Detectives have combed through mountains of evidence since reopening the cases in March 2019. After reviewing nearly half of the evidence, Bottoms said investigators determined much of it could be submitted for DNA analysis. The lab chosen by the city specializes in examining older evidence samples. Police, however, are not yet disclosing the identities of any victims.
“We want to be mindful of the integrity of the investigation,” she said.
From July 1979 to May 1981, at least 30 Black children and adults were killed. Investigators could expand that window to review cases from 1970 to 1985, Bottoms disclosed.
The mayor said she hoped to make progress in the cases before her term ends in January.