Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says a Utah laboratory will examine DNA evidence from a string of killings committed during the 1970s and 1980s.

Bottoms tweeted Monday that city investigators were traveling to Salt Lake City to provide the evidence to a private lab.

The mayor did not identify the laboratory involved.

In March 2019, Bottoms announced the city would reexamine the murders. At the time the mayor said she was hopeful that new information could turn up with the help of technological advancements and newly available genetic databases.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Police Chief Erika Shields and District Attorney Paul Howard announced in 2019 they would reexamine evidence in the Atlanta child murders.
Caption

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Police Chief Erika Shields and District Attorney Paul Howard announced in 2019 they would reexamine evidence in the Atlanta child murders.

Credit: GPB News

In July, Bottoms also said investigators had extended the timeline to 1970-1985 to investigate whether any additional victims were overlooked.

At least 29 Black children and young adults were killed in the city between 1979 and 1981. Wayne Williams has long been considered the main suspect, but he's never been charged in connection with the children's deaths. He was sentenced in 1982 to serve two life prison sentences for the murders of two adults.