It looks like HBO is the latest network to examine the infamous Atlanta child murders. They just dropped the teaser for their upcoming true-crime story Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children.
The project, produced by John Legend, takes a deep dive into the shocking details surrounding the abduction and murder of numerous Black children and teens from 1979-1981.
Although 23-year-old Wayne Williams was eventually arrested and indicted for two murders, lingering questions remain about many of the murders. No one has ever been convicted of all of the crimes. He maintains his innocence although the crime spree stopped after his arrest.
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Just last year, Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, reopened the cases in hopes that technological advances could help solve the cold cases.
Check out the official description:
In the period between 1979 to 1981, at least 30 African-American children and young adults disappeared or were murdered in Atlanta. Although 23-year-old Wayne Williams was prosecuted for two of the crimes, the rest of the cases were ultimately closed following his conviction in 1982. The docuseries hears from the victims’ families and examines the original trial materials and court documents, raising new questions for further investigation, and takes a closer look at the racial tensions and cultural clashes that brought Atlanta to a boiling point and caught the nation in a moment of transition.
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The series is produced and directed by Show of Force, including Joshua Bennett, Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre (Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present), and Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls, When the Levees Broke) and executive produced by Patrick Reardon of Roc Nation and by Get Lifted Film Co., Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius and Legend.
Watch the first trailer below.
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children premieres on April 5 on HBO.
This isn’t the first project two focus on the real-life saga. The second season of David Fincher’s Mindhunters tackled the subject on Netflix last year.
In 2019, Will Packer produced a series, The Atlanta Child Murders, on Investigation Discovery.