Producer Will Packer has created a three-part documentary miniseries on the heartbreaking story of the Atlanta child murders for the ID Channel.
The murders took place in the late 70’s there are still quite a bit of unresolved questions surrounding the deaths.
[FLASHBACK: Solidad Obrien Revists The Atlanta Child Murders (VIDEO)]
‘THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS’ focuses on a crime that deeply impacted race relations in the deep south, and the story has been a passion project of Packer?s for some time.
Still unsolved, the Atlanta Child Murders took place in the 1970s and 80s, where in the span of two years, 29 black children were tragically murdered.
Details below…
Packer, producer behind movies like Night School and Girls Trip, is tackling the nearly two-year period in the late ’70s and early ’80s wherein 29 people were kidnapped and killed. Packer tells Deadline:
Having lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, the story of this senseless tragedy is personally important to me, and the echoes of what happened 40 years ago still resonate in the city.
I am proud to give a voice to the victims? families, many of whom still seek closure to this day, and analyze how this story is more relevant than ever in today?s environment.
‘The Atlanta Child Murders’ will tell the story of Atlanta beginning in 1979, where two 14-year-old boys go missing. A few days later a woman stumbles across their remains, with one boy fatally shot and the other strangled. This incident begins a horrifying 23 months, with a total of 29 African-American children being stolen from their families and killed.
The frightening era led to outcries from Atlanta’s African-American community to find the culprit and celebrity benefits to fund massive rewards for information about the murderer. The case garnered national attention and put immense pressure on police to find the killer. In spite of all this, no one has ever been charged in the death of the children.
There are multiple theories on the crimes that have circulated around the city for decades. Wayne Williams, a black man who at the same time was convicted of two adult?s murders, was clearly not responsible for all 29 deaths so many feel that they were racially motivated crimes carried out by the KKK or perhaps copycat murderers seeking attention.
Packer hopes to shine a new light on the case by interviewing the families of the many victims. The Atlanta Child Murders will air on Investigation Discovery.
THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS, a 3 part series, premieres 3/23 on Investigation Discovery.