1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: By the winter of ninety nine, Atlanta's nightly news was 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: still with reports of missing and murdered children, but attest 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: to some of the names, you hear a disclaimer. Top 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: police brass resisted adding his name to the task Force list. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: You don't see her on the official list of murdered 6 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,959 Speaker 1: and missing children, not put on the Special task Force 7 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: list until his body was found. His death never made 8 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: the list either had not been on the missing person's list. 9 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: His disappearance also didn't make the list. What exactly was 10 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: the list, where did it come from, and what did 11 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: it mean? Were the individuals on the list connected? Law 12 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: enforcements seemed to waver on this as late as yesterday. 13 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: Detectives in the Homicide Division at ap D we're saying 14 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: there was no link between the cases. In fact, they 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: wouldn't even acknowledge that there have been more kidnappings and 16 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: murders involving children than in the past. Homicide detectives are 17 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: now trying to see whether there may be a connection 18 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: in the cases. Because he is black and fifteen, he 19 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: fits the pattern of the missing and murdered children in 20 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: atlant but that may be the extent of the similarity. 21 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: We are unable to think categorically that there's a relationship 22 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: between one case and the other. The only thing all 23 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: twenty nine cases have in common is that they are 24 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: on the task force list. I think the right thing 25 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: to do is to be able to keep up with 26 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: those cases of bear similarities. Authorities told me they do 27 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: not think at this point that one person is responsible 28 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: for all the disappearances and deaths. There are similarities. Obviously, 29 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: we have to look at the possibility that there may 30 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: be some connection between all the cases. We're not discounting that. 31 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 1: Investigators think several cases are totally unrelated. Authorities say there 32 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: are similarities with other incidents. At leice do not think 33 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: that this murder is related. There are some similarities in 34 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: some of the days. Police do think there's a possibility 35 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: that this murder is connected to another case that they 36 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: have under investigation, and associated press story quotes an unidentified 37 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: source close to the investigation as saying putting all twenty 38 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: eight murder victims names on one task course list is 39 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: one of the biggest mistakes the police department has ever made. 40 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: Sources putting of the names on one list has created 41 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: the oppression the cases are all related, says many of 42 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: the cases are unrelated, but the public thinks they're all 43 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: the work of one killer because they're on the same list. 44 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: Source says the list is a big mistake and a 45 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:21,639 Speaker 1: scorecard for police failure to solve the cases. If the 46 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: pattern cannot be agreed upon, that why we're some of 47 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: Atlanta's missing and murdered children excluded. This is the actual list, 48 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: really we used, and you know that the origin of 49 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: the list touch it, but you can't have it. I 50 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: think the list is either in need of correction or incomplete. 51 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: I'm not sure could have been more. I think it 52 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: could have been more. I think maybe instead of a list, 53 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: maybe we need two lists, one involving young, small children, 54 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: the other involving adolescents. You would be hard pressed even 55 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: today been with people who have spent a lot of 56 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: time pouring over these records to find some consistency and 57 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: what folks think represents a pattern of behavior for whoever 58 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: or whoever's committed these crimes. I don't think there should 59 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: have ever been a list. I think each case should 60 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: be investigated individually. This is Kristen Tobin, creator of the 61 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,239 Speaker 1: at Kid website, the database that focuses on the victims 62 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: in this case, it doesn't make sense to have little 63 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: kids seven and eight year olds who were found in 64 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: the woods with different causes of death to be put 65 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: in a less way adults they found in the river. 66 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: I don't see how those things are related. I think 67 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: that may have just been officials panicking. It makes the 68 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: city look bad. And if they put it all together 69 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: and they can just focus their investigation in one place, 70 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: if they make it related so they're all related, then 71 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: it feels like you can get rid of the monster. Um, 72 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: it feels like there can be something done. It was political, 73 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: it was crazy. It became a thing in and of itself, 74 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: and they didn't know what to do with it. They 75 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: didn't know how to get out of it. I don't 76 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: think they ever Nobody ever dreamed what this was going 77 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: to be. This is Dale Russell. I'm the senior investigative 78 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: reporter for Fox five News here in Atlanta. Like many 79 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: we've talked to, Dale has followed this case since the beginning. 80 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: In the beginning, it was really a list of unsolved murders, 81 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: but then the name missing and murdered got attached to it. 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: They had no evidence linking anything back then, and then 83 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: it got into this strange thing. Oh, why is my 84 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: child on the list? Why is my child not on 85 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: the list? Is the murder of my child not important 86 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: if it's not on the list. To their defense, they 87 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: didn't really know what they had yet at the time 88 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: the list was first put together. I don't think anybody 89 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: knew what this was. Some private investigators now working on 90 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: the cases don't agree with Lee Brown. They say the 91 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: list of murdered and missing children in Atlanta, which now 92 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: number seventeen, is too limited. The private detectives want to 93 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: know why. They say, any child who has been murdered 94 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: should not be excluded from the intensive search now going on. 95 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: In their words, whether it's one killer or fifteen, they 96 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: should all be caught quickly. Discrepancies in the task Force 97 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: list of names formed the basis of the comprehensive book. 98 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: The list, the lists, and the viewpoint of its authors 99 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:47,359 Speaker 1: have always been controversial. Ship debt Leader had a treasure 100 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: crotal information. If you really want to contrast in what 101 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: I just told you, read Chet debt Linger's book. Debt Linger, 102 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: he interviewed me in the office. I'm on page one 103 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: twenty three that book. I love chat. He would probably 104 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: be shocked to hear me say that. I have so 105 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: much respect for him. He feels that it wasn't handled correctly. 106 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: That's something I agree with. It's funny I've I've talked 107 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: to a lot of people who well kind of whisper 108 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: that they read it, but don't want to say out 109 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: loud that they read or whisper that it's guided them. 110 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: We didn't always see eye to eye. He's been critical 111 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: of some of the reporting I've done. He had a 112 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: voluminous knowledge of this case because he was in early. 113 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: I thought he was smart about how he got in 114 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: and how he saw it. I think he's dead on 115 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: and some of his depictions of the problems with the 116 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: police department. Chet always liked to portray it as he 117 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: knew better than anybody else. But you know, I thought 118 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: his criticisms about the politics of the list and some 119 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: of the other things early on in the police department 120 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: were fair and valid. I think it's full of what 121 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: Chet wanted people to believe. I think Chet just didn't 122 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: It wasn't privileged to all the facts. I started reading 123 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: and put it down and went in there. I don't like. 124 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: I didn't want to didn't want to read the more. 125 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: His theory was way out in left field, and he 126 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: eventually convinced enough people that he was right and they 127 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: used him as their their expert. And he talks about 128 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: the politics within the force. I guess I would call 129 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: him the ultimate skeptic. The police were going to psychics, 130 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: and Chet's like, this is ridiculous. He seems like the 131 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: voice of reason to me in a lot of it. 132 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: I basically agree with everything he says in the book. 133 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: It feels in a certain way like a case file. 134 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: It's almost as if people want to use it as 135 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: a treasure map, you know what I mean, Like, well, 136 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: I don't necessarily adhere to everything that it's promoting, but 137 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: I'm going to use this as a launch pad as 138 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: a springboard to do further research. Unfortunately, Chet det Linger 139 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: and co author Jeff Prue had both passed away. In 140 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: lieu of an interview opportunity, We've asked our producer Matt 141 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: to quote directly from the book. As Atlanta's mystery deepened, 142 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: I learned that it was far worse than our public 143 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: officials were telling us. More victims were not part of 144 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: the official investigation and body count than were on it. 145 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: The list, which consisted only of cases assigned to a 146 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: special police task force that had been formed amid community 147 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: pressure in July of nineteen eighty, ended with twenty eight 148 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: slain victims, plus ten year old Darren Glass missing since 149 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: September of nineteen eighty. But that excludes at least sixty 150 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: three more unsolved Atlanta area killings of blacks who fit 151 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: the arbitrary age, sex, race, and cause of death parameters 152 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: that the authorities used for the list. It's important to 153 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: keep in mind that all those cases which were not 154 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: put on the list, an alarming number to be sure, 155 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: don't come close to adding up to all unsolved murders 156 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: in the Atlanta area. They merely fit the fluid parameters 157 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: of the list, parameters that the authorities themselves established and 158 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: changed with no logic. In the early morning hours of June, 159 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: the body of ten year old Aaron White was found 160 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: underneath this railroad dressle on Moreland Avenue. While Aaron Wish 161 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: may seem to fit the pattern, his name was not 162 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: initially added to the list. The Cab County investigated, concluding 163 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: that the boy's death was accidental. The medical examiner wrote 164 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: the boy died from asphyxiation caused by trauma to the 165 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: neck area, either from falling or in striking the ground. 166 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: Even before the deaths of the young black children were 167 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: being connected, the family of Aaron Wish did not believe 168 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: that his death was an accident. They say that he 169 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: was always afraid of heights, and as you can see 170 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: by this rail, a young boy would have to physically 171 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: climb on top of the rail to accidentally fall off. 172 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: Did you tell place that you didn't think was an accident? 173 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: When they came and they took me at the had 174 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: told him about it, they saying from what they fo 175 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: they noted, he just got open and just slipped off. 176 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: What would you like to he's done? Now? Well, what 177 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: I would like to see done? It didn't put in 178 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: and find out who do you do it? Because I 179 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: know my baby didn't do that on his own. The 180 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: official ruling of Aaron's death didn't sit well with chet Detlinger, 181 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: and he pursued to investigate. I returned to the intersection 182 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: of Moreland and Constitution to find the damned railroad trestle. 183 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: Lo and behold. We soon found that there was no 184 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: railroad trestle for Aaron Wish to fall off. Instead, he 185 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 1: had been found at the base of a highway bridge 186 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: which passes over two railroad tracks. The bridge is six 187 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: lanes wide. It blends so well into the surrounding terrain 188 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: that were it not for the guard rails, which are 189 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: almost as high as Aaron Weish was tall, most people 190 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,959 Speaker 1: wouldn't notice that they were on a bridge when passing 191 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: over it. The bridge has sidewalks and it's perfectly safe 192 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: to walk across. There is no way Aaron Wish could 193 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 1: have fallen off that bridge. Jumped or been thrown maybe, 194 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: but fall off no way. Private investigators agree that the 195 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: case should be reopened. They say the body fits into 196 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: a geographic col pattern established with other deaths and disappearances. 197 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: His death was from asphyxiation, and he fit the description 198 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: of other blackmails who were on the official list, but 199 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: Wish never made it. His death was ruled an accident. 200 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: The trust aware this happened. Is the boundary line between 201 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,439 Speaker 1: the cab County and Atlanta. If Aaron Witch's body had 202 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: been found on the other side, just fifty feet away, 203 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: Atlanta's task force may have been working on number twelve. 204 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: She asserts that this mischaracterization of the bridge on the 205 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: official police report had a devastating impact by itself. The 206 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: discrepancy in the Eronwisch case was tragic only for his family, 207 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: but in the overall panoply of Atlanta's murders, it was catastrophic. 208 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: It meant that the police were dealing with an accident, 209 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: not a murder. Consequently, there was nothing to investigate. It 210 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,199 Speaker 1: means that Aaron Wish was not plugged into the authorities 211 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: thinking about the case. What happened in the eron Wisch case, 212 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: a medical examiner received the word trestle to mean what 213 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: it's supposed to mean, a span without railings and with 214 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: open spaces between the railroad ties. As a result, he 215 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: ruled a murder an accident. A police officer who didn't 216 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: know what a railroad trestle was became the Achilles heel 217 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: of a murder investigation that cost more than nine million dollars. Now, 218 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: the capolice officials have changed their minds, They think it 219 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: was murder and they have reopened the case. The origins 220 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: of the list go back to nine to a grassroots 221 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: coalition of concerned Atlanta mothers. Mothers in US history have 222 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: been at the forefront of a number of movements trained 223 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: around protecting children communities the nation. There's a long heritage 224 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: of this right of people taking the symbol of motherhood 225 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:04,719 Speaker 1: and attaching that to the kind of activism that everybody 226 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: can relate to right, and everybody can get behind, and 227 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: everybody can understand in terms of people who will self 228 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: asleep put themselves forward to take any risk to protect 229 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: their communities. When the mothers organize themselves to come together 230 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: and say we've got to do something to stop this, 231 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: the first thing that they're actually asking for is just 232 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: take it seriously and investigate it. We want our children found, 233 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: We want justice for our children that have already been lost. Well, 234 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,319 Speaker 1: police check out the similarities in all of these crimes. 235 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: The mothers of three of the dead children are warning 236 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: other parents to be careful. They have set up the 237 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: Committee to Stop Children's Murders. The group is planning a 238 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: seminar at the end of the month to teach parents 239 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: how to keep their children from becoming the next statistic. 240 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: I am so sorry that what happened to my child, 241 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: what happened to these other ladies, children happen up. What 242 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: I want you to do is to hang in there 243 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: and try your best to see to it that it 244 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: doesn't happen to yours. Thank you so much. And almost 245 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: immediately these mothers come under scrutiny. Are they unwed mothers? 246 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: Why is it just mothers and not mothers and fathers. 247 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: What does this mean about the dysfunction of their families? 248 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: That mothers are stepping forward and all of this kind 249 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: of sense that you know, urban women, particularly black urban women, 250 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: are matriarchal and represent kind of something that is wrong 251 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: and dysfunctional and creeping into the mainstream in terms of 252 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: American familihood and American womanhood. Like all of that got 253 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: played up. The Muslims will be on the streets keeping 254 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: an eye on the children, but they know they can't 255 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: do it alone. Tonight, they urged the men in one 256 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: housing project at McDaniel and Fulton to start caring about 257 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: kids their own and other our people's instead of doing 258 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: their own thing. What doesn't say for man to get 259 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: out our rusty dusties and come together and begin to 260 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: five the problems that affect That's all Some men listened, 261 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: most were too busy doing other things. Those who listened 262 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: said they hoped more people would get involved, but they're 263 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: not confident. I don't know if there's going to do 264 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: any good. As a man, I will tell you honestly, 265 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: there's a lot of mothers out here. They don't what's 266 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: there to be a lot of tune around, and the 267 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: people where the mama don't be knowing where they are. 268 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: Sometimes I see him take them back up on the 269 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: only here. You know what the stake to take them 270 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: to their mama, try to find out who. The America 271 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 1: has demonstrated over and over again that the caring for 272 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: our children that we profess may not be there. I 273 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: contend that it is, but that we're feeling helpless to 274 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: make change. We're not helpless, and we will make change, 275 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: and a miracle will become a child conscious society. Rather 276 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: than being universally kind of seen as these people who 277 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: have suffered the greatest loss having to to bury a 278 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: child or going to bed each night not knowing where 279 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: your child is, they are almost immediately kind of seized 280 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: upon by many folks as a symbol of what's wrong 281 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: with the American familihood and therefore potentially responsible for whatever 282 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: has happened to their children. Last night, members of the 283 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: Committee to Stop Children's Murders held a closed door meeting 284 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: to decide on a formal reaction to FBI allegations of 285 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: some parents responsibility in the murders. Today, victim Curtis Walker's 286 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: mother told me such talk was nothing new. She says 287 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: police repeatedly accused her of killing her son. Of what 288 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: they was trying to say that I had something to 289 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: do with. I told there was a damn lapin key 290 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: of my child, and they kept saying they're gonna try 291 00:16:57,680 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: to make me say that my child was a three kid, 292 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: a hustler, runaway. I told him, get the hell out 293 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: of my house and don't come back. Camille Bell, making 294 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: the formal statement for We're Committee to Stop Children's Murders, 295 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 1: said the group has sent a letter to FBI Director 296 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: Webster saying his remarks were untrue and demanding an apology. 297 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: If no arrests are made in the next twenty four hours, 298 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: usually after they get a chance to work through that 299 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: and find out whether the parents are in fact people 300 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: that could have done it or didn't do it, then 301 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 1: either an arrest is made immediately or they go on 302 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: to find other suspects. Basically, the general feeling is if 303 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: they think I kill my child, tell him to come 304 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: get me. Mrs Bell says she has no idea why 305 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,199 Speaker 1: the FBI made the statements in the first place, or 306 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: why Commissioner Lee Brown did not deny they were true. 307 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: I think that it makes them, um, in some ways, 308 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: that much more brave to have come out in the 309 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: way that they did and insisted, even in the face 310 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: of this, over and over and over again, that their 311 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: cases were going to get the attention that they deserved, 312 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: and that they were going to in some ways kind 313 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: of stand at the gates right of their communities and 314 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: make sure that people knew that this happened to them, 315 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: and people knew that there was still a danger, and 316 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: that people did whatever they could to protect themselves even 317 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: if they weren't getting all of the official help that 318 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: they needed. I think in many ways they could speak 319 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,479 Speaker 1: to what was at stake better than anyone, because the 320 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: fact that mothers came out in the ways that they 321 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: did constantly forced the media and public officials to have 322 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: to acknowledge that these victims are children, and so over 323 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: and over and over again saying, um, you know, my 324 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: child was innocent, and being very specific about that, and 325 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 1: pulling out photographs of their children and person analizing these stories, 326 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,640 Speaker 1: talking about the things that their children liked to do, 327 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,919 Speaker 1: talking about the ways that their children, even when they 328 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: were out and about, you know, weren't quote street hustlers, 329 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 1: but we're kids who were trying to make extra money, 330 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,360 Speaker 1: bagging groceries so that they could help their families, or 331 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: trying to run errands for neighbors, UM, to be helpful 332 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: in the community. Well loved UM and and even if 333 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: not well loved UM children in their schools where they 334 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: were just in the third grade, just in the fourth grade, 335 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: just in the fifth grade. It's some mothers who keep 336 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: that front and center and try really hard not to 337 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: allow folks to depersonalize this. And so I think that 338 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: the mothers have to be credited with keeping the memories 339 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: of their children alive in that way. Interestingly and ironically, 340 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 1: I think that as a consequence, possibly um of the 341 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: ways in which they revealified, in the ways in which 342 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: the case was so sensationalized, a lot of the mothers 343 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: also chose at a certain point to retreat and and 344 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: really became fairly adamant that they didn't want to be harassed, 345 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: they didn't want to be bothered, not bothered about their memories, 346 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: but that it was continually traumatic. I think it's really 347 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: important to recognize that because a lot of folks were 348 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 1: earning their livings on the backs of these children and 349 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: on their families trauma. In the last year, eight Atlanta 350 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: youngsters have been reported missing. The parents of some of 351 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: these children have complained that police aren't doing enough, partly 352 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: because of these complaints, but mostly just to try and 353 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: get to the bottom of all this, the special Task 354 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 1: Force was created one sergeant and four investigators. As far 355 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: as our investigations are concerned, it will allow us the 356 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: time to go back and type any loose ends that 357 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: needs to be tied up in the course of all 358 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 1: of the investigations. But most of all, it would benefit 359 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: us by allowing him full time without interruption. So now 360 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: we have two groups of investigators looking into these cases, 361 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,959 Speaker 1: one from inside Atlanta Police headquarters and another made up 362 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,360 Speaker 1: of former ap D officers who are now private detectives. 363 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: Commissioner Brown says he welcomes any help he can get 364 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 1: in this matter as long as the private detectives remember 365 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: where their authority stops. The ten murders and kidnappings involving 366 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: missing children have become priority number one at a p D. 367 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: The task force assigned to investigate the cases has been 368 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: doubled in size to ten. The FBI has been asked 369 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: to assign two of its agents to assist in the investigation. 370 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: Governor Busby will be asked to loan Atlanta Police four 371 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: agents from the GBI. The state will also be asked 372 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: to provide money to pay for extra police over time 373 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: and other expenses. The Atlanta Office of the FBI has 374 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: pitched into help in a peripheral way. They've already made 375 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: available their laboratory resources, their behavioral sciences unit at Chronical 376 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: Virginia Technical Assistance. They've flown in people to be of 377 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 1: assistance to us, So we appreciative that who would also 378 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: Our request right now is that they assign agents to 379 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: be a part of the task force. And that's where 380 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: the problem comes in. The FBI says, this is a 381 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: local case, and no matter how horrible it is, Congress 382 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,920 Speaker 1: doesn't allow the FBI to get involved in local cases. 383 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: What Atlanta really wanted was money to spend the way 384 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: of thought necessary on the investigation, but Ronald Reagan didn't 385 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: go quite that far. Instead of a blank check, he 386 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: has offered other assistance technical help through three agencies, the FBI, 387 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: the Justice Department, and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Already, 388 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,439 Speaker 1: the FBI has more than twenty six agents working on 389 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: the cases. Some days all are used, while on other 390 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: days some agents said idle. Bureau officials in Washington now 391 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: say it is very unlikely any more agents or equipment 392 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: will be sent to a line of for the investigation. 393 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: Commissioner Brown things that Lanta's little Black children's rights have 394 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: been violated, and he thinks they deserve help from the 395 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: federal government. When I look at the media coverage, particularly 396 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: when I look at it as a researcher, I am 397 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:24,479 Speaker 1: immediately struck by the lack of empathy that seems to 398 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: be extended towards these children's survivors, people who have lost 399 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: a lot um more than we can't imagine. It seems 400 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: like folks are looking for an opening for a story 401 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: to be like, well, this kid, you know, was in 402 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: foster care and that was probably because the mother blah 403 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 1: blah blah blah, like real tangents that don't really have 404 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: much of anything, if anything at all, to do with 405 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: the fact that the child is missing or murder and 406 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: what's interesting is you don't see a balance in that, 407 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: So you don't see a lot of conversation like this 408 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: kid comes from this home and these parents are really 409 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: grieving and the parents told them to be really careful. 410 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: There seems like there's this hyper interest and focusing on 411 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 1: kind of parental lapses, and it's really unclear to me why, 412 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: except for the fact that it's scintillating. It's kind of stintillating. 413 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: It doesn't seem to serve any kind of investigative purpose. 414 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: It certainly doesn't clarify anything um in most instances about 415 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: what happened to these children. There's so much to be 416 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: dismayed by when you're thinking about this, But there's anything 417 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: that upsets me more than anything else. It for me 418 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: is a sense of injustice about the ways that these 419 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: children are characterized in their death and their tragic, tragic deaths. 420 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: I mean, the worst imaginable kind of victimization. When a 421 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 1: person's life is taken from them and they are characterized 422 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: in these ways that would suggest, even for adults, that 423 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: they are unworthy of attention and sympathy and care and 424 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: any further effort. So these kids are, you know, often 425 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: referred to as street kids and hustlers. Rather than talking 426 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: about a child who has run away from home. Several 427 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: times they talk about them as a runaway. There is 428 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 1: so much codified language that suggests that these kids are 429 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: throwaways anyway. That is deeply troubling, and that enables people 430 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: to distance themselves from the reality of them as innocence. 431 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: The question is is Patrick Rogers a runaway or has 432 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: he been harmed? His family thinks the worst, claiming he 433 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: would never lee without telling his mother. But Rogers has 434 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: been in trouble with the law before, and some investigators 435 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: think the teenager has run away this time and because 436 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,679 Speaker 1: of news reports, is afraid to come home. The Missing 437 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: Person's Bureau is checking that, and until the report is 438 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,919 Speaker 1: either confirmed are proven false, the case will remain with 439 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: that department and not be transferred to the task force. 440 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: Patrick Rogers, the authorities said, was a runaway, so what 441 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: they had said the same about other victims before, and 442 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 1: they would say it again. I always thought runaways were 443 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,119 Speaker 1: missing children, But then I always thought that a murdered 444 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 1: child was a murdered child. Not so if you follow 445 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: the nonsensical media reports. In Atlanta, we were told again 446 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: that Sixteen year old Patrick Rogers, who had been missing 447 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: for three days short of one month and found murdered, 448 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: is not one of Atlanta's missing or murdered children. Sixteen 449 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: year old Patrick Rogers was last seen alive on November tenth, 450 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: when he left his apartment at the Henry Thomas Housing 451 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: Project to walk his little brother to the bus stop. 452 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,479 Speaker 1: Police did not believe Roger's disappearance had anything to do 453 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: with the fifteen Atlanta missing and murdered children. Then, on Sunday, 454 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: December seven, the body of a black teenager was dragged 455 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: out of the Chattahoochee River near Pacis Ferry Road in 456 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 1: Cobb County. Company still aren't sure how Patrick died or 457 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: who may have killed him, but considering his burglary record, 458 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: they are investigating to see if there were any burglaries 459 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: in the Pacis Ferry area around the time Patrick disappeared. 460 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: Patrick's brother thinks that's ridiculous, just faith to that note 461 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,880 Speaker 1: that he was killed. Ain't nobody no, ain't nobody gones 462 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: go away out and called counts bishop down, know their way, 463 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: no way, not to be burglized, burglize. Mrs Rogers beliefs 464 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: her son was murdered by someone he knew. She's always 465 00:27:53,560 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: thought that I told him even when he was How 466 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: did you know he was doing because I know he 467 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: had him in Did he'd got in touch with me? 468 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: I know he would. Ever since Patrick vanished that November day, 469 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: his family believed their boy was in trouble. A black 470 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: fifteen year old male who lived in the same area 471 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: where three other children had disappeared. They were later found 472 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: murdered and added to the task Force list, but he 473 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: wasn't not for two months. Even though he did fit 474 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: into the pattern well. The theory that he was a 475 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,639 Speaker 1: runaway disappeared as quickly as Rogers did when his body 476 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: was found a month later. His case is very similar 477 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: to Aaron Weisch's, who remained off the list for nine 478 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: months until last week. His death was ruled accidental. In 479 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: that case, however, the CAB officials now say new evidence 480 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: could point to foul play. Pat Man's case obviously was 481 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: a turning point in the Atlanta murders, but police missed 482 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: the turn and went off on a tangent. The Task 483 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: Force wouldn't investigate Patrick's death because Public Safety Commissioner Lee 484 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: Brown steadfastly refused to add him to the list. Authorities 485 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: said that pat Man was too old. The list at 486 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: the time embraced victims aged seven to fifteen. But I 487 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: don't like the Wish case in the Camp County. Cobb 488 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: County officials admit they don't have enough evidence to like 489 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: the Rogers case. Would the others? Nor do they have 490 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,959 Speaker 1: enough evidence so we even say that Rogers was murdered. 491 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: All they do have are a bunch of dead ends. 492 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: Patrick Rogers, like Aaron Weish, was eventually added to the list, 493 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: But what if he had been added earlier. At Patrick 494 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: Rogers home today, his family took his addition to the 495 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: list without much emotion. Stevie Rogers, Patrick's older sister, had 496 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: just heard the news. Her mother, she said, was at 497 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: the Task Force offices, but she knew what Mrs Rogers 498 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: would say. I want added to the test was because 499 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: of the Fountain Cobb County. Indeed, they was working on 500 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: it case. That's why they had add him to the 501 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: test book. The only reason why, the only thing he 502 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: had to come with other kids was his way and 503 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: his race and where he comes from and all that 504 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: he from a low income family. Say this you no 505 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,959 Speaker 1: reason for them and to test when you heard that, 506 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: what did you and your mom think? Same? Thankful front 507 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: of cool Stevie told me Patrick had been friends with 508 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: several other of the murdered children, and pointed out that 509 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: Aaron White, victim number seven, only lived three hundred yards away. 510 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: So one of the complexities of talking about the neighborhoods 511 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: that the kids were from is that it brings us 512 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: right back to this question of the list. You have 513 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: to think about the children who were counted, and potentially 514 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: the fact that their children who were not counted. I 515 00:30:58,160 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: think that when you look at the character of the 516 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: name borhoods that the kids are from, then you can 517 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: see how other neighborhoods might fit, even though they weren't 518 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: named on the officialist. Because you're talking about neighborhoods where 519 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 1: people don't necessarily have a lot of economic resources. You're 520 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: often talking about neighborhoods that, as a consequence of that, 521 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: have a number of abandoned, neglected homes, places where you 522 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: might have like single realm occupancy in homes or what 523 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: we call boarding houses, like all of these things, right, 524 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: so that you have these close knit communities, but you 525 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,959 Speaker 1: also have a lot of people coming and going and 526 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: not a lot of sense of control over people coming 527 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: and going. And then you also have a lot of 528 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 1: kids who are coming from housing projects and subsidize housing. 529 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: The easy thing to see in that is that people 530 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: do have a lot of economic resources, right, that a 531 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: lot of these kids were coming from homes that were impoverished. 532 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: What that also can mean is that these kids, a 533 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: lot of them are coming from homes that have a 534 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: lot of state intervention already, and sometimes a lot of 535 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: particularly fraught state intervention. Right, So you might have more 536 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: police patrols and you have more crime generally speaking in 537 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: a sense of vulnerability around that. Generally you have a 538 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: lot more people who have relationships with state apparatus, like 539 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: you've got a social worker, um because you're receiving assistance, 540 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: or because a person is in foster care. So all 541 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: of that stuff is already in place. So you have 542 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 1: these relationships sometimes between mothers who became activists, sometimes with 543 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: other people who are still close in but you know, 544 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 1: maybe not in the nuclear family system where you've just 545 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 1: got all kinds of difficult fraud relationships and also vulnerability, right, 546 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: Like if you come out and protest against this, or 547 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,719 Speaker 1: you make a big stink about they're gonna lose their benefits, 548 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,480 Speaker 1: You're gonna lose your housing. What does all of that mean? 549 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: You also, though, have a space where you can be 550 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: subject to state intervention and mandates much more so. For example, 551 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: when a curfew was ultimately instituted, you had a lot 552 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: of patrol around city housing projects to ensure that people 553 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: were in by the curfew, whereas you didn't have the 554 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: same level of patrol around that in other neighborhoods that 555 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 1: were more affluent. And while it could be interpreted that 556 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: they were getting extra protection, what often happened, and the 557 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 1: way that it was even framed was that it was 558 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: punitive for parents. Right, So these kids get picked up. First, 559 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 1: they're taking home, and then if nobody's home for whatever reason, 560 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: maybe people are working the late shift because people who 561 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,080 Speaker 1: have hourly jobs off and art working at bankers hours. 562 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: Then you get taken to a place I can feel 563 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: very much like a detention center, and people get cited 564 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: and people get fined, and so there's all of this 565 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:02,720 Speaker 1: stuff that's happened in as a consequence to some extent 566 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: of where people live, you also have these really high 567 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: concentrations of poverty in certain pockets at that time and 568 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: to this day, and you also have a lot fewer 569 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: options for safe and supervised recreation, or you find kids 570 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: going pretty significant distances to get to safe and supervised recreation. 571 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: You have the sense that there's a curfew and that 572 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: people should be in but some of those things are 573 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: assuming that people have resources that they don't have. What 574 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 1: it seems like is happening is that you know, families 575 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:45,560 Speaker 1: are actually encouraging their kids to go somewhere safe, but 576 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: the senses that that somewhere safe to go might not 577 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 1: be inside your home. So it's not as simple as 578 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: just thinking, oh, we'll just go home and close the 579 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 1: door and then you'll be safe. But maybe I need 580 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: to try to figure out how to get my kid 581 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: someplace it's a couple of miles away to be inside 582 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 1: and safe and also have me be compliant with the 583 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: law at this point in time. So this is a 584 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: lot more complicated than it seems. There was one place 585 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,840 Speaker 1: that I think is gone now as a housing project, 586 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: that what they called the back patrol, and these were 587 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: adults that walked around with baseball bats and looking for 588 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: suspicious characters or protecting the community whatever they call them. 589 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: The back patrol today. Residents of the project said they 590 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,239 Speaker 1: will police their own community. You've got to drop out 591 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: keys here in community that can be their own patrol 592 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: and can't get nothing out of the city Council of 593 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,239 Speaker 1: all the bills, men who were fit to all the 594 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: large communs and the people who but unlike the Guardian 595 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: Angels who do not carry weapons, the tech Wood group 596 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: will be armed. Teenagers over sixteen were carried baseball bats 597 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,720 Speaker 1: and adults over twenty one will carry guns. The Tenants 598 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: Association is taking the law into its own hands. They 599 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: claimed police patrols in the neighborhood are not enough. They 600 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: say budget cuts by the Atlanta Housing Authority have closed 601 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: down recreation centers for children at a time when you're 602 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: needed most. They don't want to spend the summer keeping 603 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:24,320 Speaker 1: their children indoors. So beginning next weekend, the patrols planned 604 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,439 Speaker 1: to be on the street. And they say anyone who 605 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 1: looks like a stranger is fair game in the outside. 606 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: It comes in here to try melissa, kids or anything. 607 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,839 Speaker 1: They are being known. They go weapon out and all 608 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: the comma do the same thing. One organizer was asked 609 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: what would be done to prevent volunteers from shooting an 610 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: innocent person by mistake. His answer, no force of arms 611 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,440 Speaker 1: is too large when it comes to protecting our children. 612 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: There was a lot of press attention Checkood Homes about 613 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,280 Speaker 1: the bat patrol. They're all gonna arm ourselves with bats. 614 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: Nobody's coming into Tech with homes and they walked around 615 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: with the baseball bats to protect the kids. I guess 616 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 1: where Bubba Duncan lived, the next murder victim. After the 617 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,799 Speaker 1: bat patrol hit the press Tech with Holmes, things are 618 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: tense tonight in Tech with Homes. People are angry. Earlier 619 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:21,799 Speaker 1: it had been reported that Bubba Duncan was a member 620 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: of the Tech What bat Patrol. He was not, And 621 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: now that he's been taken and killed, some people in 622 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: Tech what are saying The bat patrol was just a 623 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: challenge to the killer. You can build a fence, one 624 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: man said, and this maniac will just climb over it 625 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,840 Speaker 1: and get you. The bat patrol is not getting a 626 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,760 Speaker 1: lot of support in Techwood tonight. I be they shouldn't 627 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: have said no bad patrol. You know that that man 628 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,640 Speaker 1: was whoever it is. You know they're showing us that 629 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: down him came in about no bats and Nathan else, 630 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 1: you know. I also talked with Eddie Duncan Senor. He 631 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 1: said his son was strong and could not have been 632 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,200 Speaker 1: taken by a killer without a struggle. He said it 633 00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: had to be someone he knew, I could trusted. I 634 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: don't know what's happening. All I know is they call 635 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:03,319 Speaker 1: him Tom and they were found him, which she did. 636 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 1: Attended Abou two weeks ago that he was missing and 637 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,440 Speaker 1: she couldn't get no, no help from the police department. 638 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: Bubba was older, he was twenty one, and it threw 639 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 1: everybody through us in the press. If you go back 640 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,040 Speaker 1: and look at the articles, you'll see they were asked. 641 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:20,320 Speaker 1: They're asking questions, Well, he's he's twenty one, he's an adult. 642 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,279 Speaker 1: These are child murders. These are kid murders. How do 643 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,399 Speaker 1: you have an adult? And so that the police responded, well, 644 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:33,600 Speaker 1: he was slow mentally, he was childlike. I remember that 645 00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 1: quote from Lee P. Brown. He was childlike. So it's 646 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 1: like the police had to explain to everyone how you 647 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: could have a twenty one year old in this string 648 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:50,319 Speaker 1: of child murders, child and teenagers, young adults. And from 649 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,840 Speaker 1: that point on, this when they started getting older and 650 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: the child murders I believe morphed at the Bubba Duncan 651 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 1: case into older twenty year old victims. Remember called where 652 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,840 Speaker 1: we seeing a typically Lee Brown was vague and rambling 653 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,760 Speaker 1: when questioned by reporters on April eighth about the finding 654 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:15,320 Speaker 1: of one Sleen adult Bubba Duncan, aged one, and about 655 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:20,320 Speaker 1: a second adult still missing, Larry Rogers, aged twenty. We 656 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,600 Speaker 1: know that the two young men in question are in 657 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 1: context of age small in stature, Brown said at a 658 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: news conference. Age is not a determining factor how he 659 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,080 Speaker 1: changed his tune since pat Man had been found. There 660 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: is some speculation that one of the reasons the killer 661 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:41,040 Speaker 1: or killers has or have gone to the young adults, 662 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 1: who by the way physically still resemble teenagers, is that 663 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,920 Speaker 1: the net is so tight on children, with families now 664 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: being far more involved than before, far closer watch on 665 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:59,359 Speaker 1: our children, and obviously is more difficult now to steal 666 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:03,720 Speaker 1: away With a youngster like victim Eddie Duncan, Rogers looks 667 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 1: much younger and is moderately mentally handicapped. Officials say Larry 668 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 1: looks and behaves like an adolescent. Rogers looks younger and 669 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: with a mental handicap acts younger he fits the pattern. 670 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:27,560 Speaker 1: The list grew to include thirty victims between the ages 671 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:31,040 Speaker 1: of seven and twenty eight. The final and oldest victim 672 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: was added not by the Task Force, but by the 673 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:37,920 Speaker 1: prosecution during trial, Even before a jury ruled, Rumors alluded 674 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,080 Speaker 1: to the disbanding of the task force. Privately, many police 675 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,320 Speaker 1: officers think it's time to disband the task Force, but 676 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 1: they say the top grass hesitates for two reasons. It 677 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: simply wouldn't look good to the public, and especially to 678 00:40:51,520 --> 00:41:01,800 Speaker 1: the victims mother's Curtis Walker's Mothers cases. Public Safety Commissioner 679 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,920 Speaker 1: Lee Brown feels that pressure from many of the families. 680 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 1: He always reminds the news media that there are still 681 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: twenty six open cases. We shall continue that ongoing investigation 682 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: until we're able to charge someone for the cases for 683 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,400 Speaker 1: which we have not charged someone at this time. Do 684 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,040 Speaker 1: you mean that the task force will stay intact until 685 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: you have somebody charged in all twenty six cases. That 686 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:33,520 Speaker 1: is absolutely correct. Brown then instantly realized the bond he 687 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:36,640 Speaker 1: had put himself in. It's common knowledge that many of 688 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:40,480 Speaker 1: the cases may never be solved, so Brown quickly backtracked 689 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:44,720 Speaker 1: and in essence retracted his statement itself. We will assess 690 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 1: what we do on a daily basis, and if any 691 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 1: point in time we need to increase our decrease, will 692 00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:54,920 Speaker 1: do what the situation dictates. High ranking officials inside the 693 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,440 Speaker 1: police department tell me the Task Force has become a 694 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,840 Speaker 1: political issue, so no more office. This will be removed 695 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:04,520 Speaker 1: at least before the mayor's election, and after that well, 696 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:07,400 Speaker 1: sources inside the task force tell me that will depend 697 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,560 Speaker 1: on whether Wayne Williams is convicted. If he is not, 698 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:15,400 Speaker 1: this could go on indefinitely. Two days after Wayne Williams 699 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,120 Speaker 1: was found guilty of two of Atlanta's murders, the special 700 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:20,839 Speaker 1: task Force created to solve the string of young black 701 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,839 Speaker 1: killings is about to be closed, according to reports here. 702 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:28,359 Speaker 1: I can understand that alloying the public's fees about such 703 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,880 Speaker 1: a horrible situation as good when everyone wants to get 704 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,239 Speaker 1: all the life. District Attorney Louis Layton was asked whether 705 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:38,359 Speaker 1: investigators were closing the books on twenty four more Task 706 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: Force cases because of links to Wayne Williams. I believe not. 707 00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:46,400 Speaker 1: There would be some meetings in the next few days 708 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: about certain cases, but I don't believe they would be 709 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:53,200 Speaker 1: that figure. With twenty three of the Atlanta murders blamed 710 00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:56,960 Speaker 1: on Wayne Williams leave. Brown announced Monday the Missing and 711 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 1: Murdered Children's task Force was closing for good next Monday, 712 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,320 Speaker 1: but then church leaders complained to Mary Young that the 713 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,840 Speaker 1: closing was premature and the heat was on Brown. Today, 714 00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:11,200 Speaker 1: he came back to the media to announce the old 715 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,080 Speaker 1: task force that investigated child murders was still officially closed, 716 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:19,320 Speaker 1: and he still maintains Wayne Williams killed twenty three of 717 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,080 Speaker 1: those victims. But Brown says a new task force has 718 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 1: been created to take its place. It will be made 719 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:30,359 Speaker 1: up of twenty five Atlanta policemen no other jurisdictions. They 720 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:33,320 Speaker 1: will team with remnants of the old task force to 721 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:38,200 Speaker 1: investigate all Atlanta homicides. It will be called the Homicide 722 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,719 Speaker 1: Task Force. One of the things that was brought to 723 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,279 Speaker 1: our attention by the the ministers had met with us 724 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:49,800 Speaker 1: people who represent even just through their congregation, if not 725 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:54,279 Speaker 1: through the fact that they're leaders in our community, is 726 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,359 Speaker 1: the fact that community has an attachment to the task force, 727 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:03,719 Speaker 1: and we had seven cases which were not closed, and 728 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:07,840 Speaker 1: as a result, we want to continue the effort and 729 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,680 Speaker 1: be responsive to the community. Commissioner, haven't you just renamed 730 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:16,080 Speaker 1: the homicide Department to appease the parents. Well, the answer 731 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: to that is no, we have never made any decisions 732 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:24,480 Speaker 1: for purposes of appeasement. But as the commissioner was continually 733 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:28,400 Speaker 1: drilled about the name change, even he found some humor 734 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:36,400 Speaker 1: in it. Do you understand, of course it occurred to us. 735 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 1: They closed the cases, which was horrible for the families. 736 00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:56,759 Speaker 1: There was no closure. The list existed. After he was convicted. 737 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:03,799 Speaker 1: The list disappeared. There's thirty victims, two of them got 738 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,920 Speaker 1: a trial, whether or not you agree with the conclusion 739 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:12,200 Speaker 1: of the trial. There's twenty eight then left who had 740 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:16,640 Speaker 1: no trial, and they were just closed after the conviction. 741 00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:20,880 Speaker 1: So that doesn't seem right to me. That doesn't seem 742 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:28,480 Speaker 1: like any real ending. It feels very incomplete, just pitiful. 743 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:31,319 Speaker 1: That's a bad thing to do if it was one 744 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:33,719 Speaker 1: of my kids that died. I don't want to know 745 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:38,400 Speaker 1: what they all happen and who. They need to know 746 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:40,680 Speaker 1: an answer, They need to know why, or they need 747 00:45:40,760 --> 00:46:03,680 Speaker 1: to know what some answer m After Williams is arrested, 748 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:08,320 Speaker 1: the mothers are still very focused often and saying I 749 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:14,640 Speaker 1: want justice for my child. My child matters more than 750 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:19,320 Speaker 1: closing this case matters more than the implications of this 751 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:23,760 Speaker 1: open case for the city matter. Remember them my child 752 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:38,279 Speaker 1: was somebody who deserved to live a full life or 753 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:42,399 Speaker 1: archive clips or courtesy of WSBTV. Be sure to tune 754 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,960 Speaker 1: in next Friday for episode nine. There's two episodes left. 755 00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:52,000 Speaker 1: See you then? Why do you do it? Yeah? Um, well, 756 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,080 Speaker 1: I don't know. I guess it's like anything else. You 757 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,160 Speaker 1: get involved, you can't let it go. And the more 758 00:46:57,239 --> 00:46:59,279 Speaker 1: involved I get, the more involved I want to get 759 00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:02,279 Speaker 1: want to catch the guy. Uh. Primarily I want to 760 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:04,120 Speaker 1: stop the killing. I want to see that. I want 761 00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:11,200 Speaker 1: to see the kids killing. Stop h