SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Old DNA evidence from the Atlanta child murders is getting a second look at a specialized lab in Salt Lake City in effort to give families long-overdue answers.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced in a tweet Monday that Atlanta Police Department investigators would be traveling to the Utah lab that specializes in old DNA.
@Atlanta_Police Investigators are traveling to Salt Lake City to provide a private lab, that works with old DNA evidence, evidence from the Missing and Murdered children cases. It is my sincere hope that there will be concrete answers for the families.
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) October 18, 2021
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Between 1979 and 1981, more than 20 Black children and teenagers went missing from the Atlanta area and were found dead.
Wayne Williams has long been considered the prime suspect in the murders, but was never convicted of any child’s death.
In 1982, Williams was convicted of the murders of two adults and sentenced to two life terms in prison. The cases were officially closed after his conviction.
In 2018, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that city police and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office would reexamine the cases.
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Williams was denied parole in 2019. His next date of parole consideration will be in November 2027. He is currently housed at Telfair State Prison.
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