One year after DNA samples in the Atlanta Child Murders were delivered to a lab in Utah, there is still no report on what testing might have revealed in the four decades old case.
Atlanta Police Department officials hand-delivered the DNA evidence to Sorenson Forensics, located in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper, with hopes of getting more answers for the families of the victims. Then Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in an Oct. 18, 2021 tweet, “It is my sincere hope that there will be concrete answers for the families.”
Bottoms announced in 2019 that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, and Atlanta Police Department would re-examine existing evidence related to the case.
Public interest in the case peaked again after the airing of two documentaries – “The Atlanta Child Murders” on Discovery Channel and “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children” on HBO.
Between the summer of 1979 and early 1981 at least 28 children and two adults were killed around Metro Atlanta. Their bodies were found in wooded or less populated areas.
Wayne Williams, now 64, was ultimately convicted of the murder of the two adult victims. He remains the lead suspect in the other murders during the two-year period, but questions persist among family members of the victims and in the community-at-large.
Williams continues to maintain his innocence.
Sorenson Forensics specializes in DNA testing and has a reputation for getting to the bottom of where specific DNA comes from, according to its website. “The Sorenson Forensics laboratory is validated to perform an extensive variety of chemistries across a diverse range of cutting-edge forensics DNA testing technology platforms,” the company’s website says.
On the Sorenson Forensics Twitter feed, there is a recent post about a Detroit man’s DNA linking him to a 2000 sexual assault and 2003 murder. The lab worked on the DNA for the case. The DNA from the Atlanta Child Murders is much older.
Atlanta Intown made numerous attempts to learn more about how the forensic and DNA tests on the Atlanta Child Murder victims is progressing a year after making its way to Utah. Calls to the City of Atlanta referred us to Sorenson Forensics.
From the multiple phone calls and emails, one call from the lab was returned. An employee who did not want to give her name acknowledged that they received the inquiries but could not divulge any information on the progress or confirmation of any tests on the Atlanta Child Murder victims DNA.
The City of Atlanta is constructing a memorial to the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders on the grounds of City Hall.
