City of Fear

Progress, but still no breakthrough in Atlanta

With 20 black children missing or murdered since July 1979, Atlanta is increasingly a city of fear (see BEHAVIOR). There are indications, however, that a strenuous police investigation into the killings is beginning to show at least some progress. TIME learned last week that law-enforcement officials think they know who killed "two or three" of the children. These murders, though, are apparently isolated crimes, allegedly committed by black individuals against children they knew. Officials still believe that there is a "pattern" murderer who is responsible for most of the killings. Some authorities also believe there...

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