Chapter 11, Atlanta Summary and Analysis

Atlanta is besieged in 1981 by one of the largest and most publicized manhunts in American history. Complaints about foul odors are first reported in July 1979. The decomposing bodies of two teenage black boys are discovered fifty feet apart along Niskey Lake Road. One is strangled and the other is shot but by November of that year two more bodies are found. Other children's bodies continue to be found through 1980 and include girls as well. The police finally make the determination that these continuing murders of black children are related but until Attorney General Griffin Bell orders an investigation, the FBI is not involved. The Atlanta field office is charged to determine if the murders are linked and to find the killer as soon as possible. The FBI is authorized to be directly involved if interstate kidnapping or federal civil...